Worlds Apart
by PhoenixClaw2128
Summary: When a mishap in the Dimensional Research Labs causes four trainers to fall into the Forever Fall Forest, They're going to have to survive in a world with overpowered humans and... animal humans? And what the hell are those shadow creatures? One thing's for sure, the Aura Guardian of the group is going to have one hell of a headache dealing with all this. T for light cursing.
1. Chapter 1: Worlds Apart

Chapter 1: Worlds apart

* * *

The sun shone down, glinting off the large glass buildings of Akala island. Walking down the street from a hotel by the beachfront was a girl of around seventeen, looking around for a specific building. She had a slim figure of just under six feet tall, with long brown hair, green eyes, and a light skin tone. She wore a brown tank top and white jeans, with a burgundy shoulder bag nestled comfortably against her side.

She eventually stopped walking when she reached a parking lot in front of a three-story tan colored building, with a large satellite dish taking up a large part of the left side of the parking lot. She took out the address she was given and made sure it was the right place before she walked forward and entered the building. She walked up to the receptionist, and gave a warm smile, bowing slightly. "Hello, I was told to come here to meet a Professor Burnet?"

"Yes, You would be amiss Willow Thorne then? She's waiting upstairs in the dimensional research lab on the third floor. The elevator is just to the right." The now identified Willow bowed again, thanking her, and walking to the elevator doors. After entering and waiting for the elevator to reach the third floor, she exited and started looking for whoever she was supposed to meet.

"Howdy cous! You'd be Willow then, yeah?" Willow turned to see a tall muscular man wearing an open white lab coat and grey swim trunks waving towards her. "Nice to meet you! The names Kukui, and this here's my wife, Professor Burnet!" The woman Professor Kukui motioned towards was wearing a grey tank top, with black shorts and leggings.

"It's nice to meet you in person, Miss Thorne." Burnet stuck out her hand, which Willow took, smiling.

"It's nice to meet you too, you as well, Professor Kukui!" She stepped back, smiling and clutching the strap of her bag, blushing. "Um, so now that I'm here, would you mind telling me what this is about? Your email didn't really explain it…"

"Of course," Burnet waved her along, walking deeper into the room. "We can't start right now, as not everyone is here yet, but I can tell you it has to do with the Hoopa incident you were involved with last year."

"You know about Hoopa?"

"A Mythical pokémon went berserk and almost completely destroyed a city, until you and a number of legendaries stepped in, lots of people know about the Hoppa incident."

"Oh, well you should know that I didn't really do much, I was just kind of there."

"And that's why the general public just knows that it was a female trainer that helped, not you specifically. Anyway, we're only waiting for one other, but you can meet the other trainer we invited here for this experiment." She stepped aside and gestured forward another trainer who was sitting and joking with one of the scientists.

The trainer stood up and approached her, a mischievous grin on his face. He looked to be around eighteen, with dark skin and dark eyes, messy black hair hanging partly in front of said eyes. HIs body looked muscular, but not overly so, and wore a deep black hoodie that wasn't zippered, showing a silver shirt underneath, with navy jeans and a black and blue backpack on his back. "Good to meet ya, Miss! The names Noct, What's yours?"

"Oh, It's nice to meet you, Noct! I'm Willow!" Willow smiled in response to his grin, noting that he was a humorous one, from his demeanor. "So, Professors, who else are we waiting for?"

"We may have all sent you the invitations a few days ago, but he did reply that he was busy. He did say that he should be in Alola soon, so don't worry about that." A sudden large shadow flying across the windows drew their attention, and Professor Kukui walked over, looking out.

"Looks like you were right, honey, He's just on time! And he brought a guest!"

* * *

Sapphire Chaser sighed, hopping off the back of his flying pokémon. "You did good, return." A flash of red signaled the pokémon being returned to its plain red and white pokéball, which was then returned to his belt. He rolled his shoulder, trying to rid himself of the cramps that came with riding a flying pokémon with rock hard skin across an entire ocean. It certainly didn't help that his cape had gotten caught when he sat down, nor his staff being lodged awkwardly, and he didn't have time to adjust either.

Sapphire huffed, blowing some of his dark brown hair out of his blue eyes, some of the dyed blue strands being blown away as well. He usually covered his left eye to hide the… unique pupil he'd gained when pushing his aura to the extreme that one time, but right now he couldn't care less. Not even Guardians had limitless patience.

Being an Aura Guardian had its downsides, such as the whole outfit being eccentric and easily noticed, but he would not slack off, even in his dress. He wore the standard Aura Guardian raiments, a black shirt, and pants, covered by a navy vest, gloves, and boots, with a black cape and hat with a blue pokémon symbol and a brown pouch on his hip. It all fit his tall body, just about six foot two, which when combined with his muscle, about as much as a professional swimmer, gave him a handsome figure. All in all, it made him look around seventeen or eighteen when he was really sixteen.

His staff was holstered on his back, in an easy to reach place. Its dark wooden pole extending past his shoulder, with a blue orb stuck on the end, with a metallic ring around it. The only real differences he made to the outfit was the replacement of the outfits normal belt with his trainer belt, the Z-Power Ring that was on top of one of his gloves, and the metallic necklace around his neck that carried Him.

Of course, even if he hated the outfit he wouldn't change it. Every part of an Aura Guardians outfit had special properties to help their wearers, such as his pouch being… Sapphire was jarred out of his musings as there was a crash behind him, and he turned to see his current companion Anthony standing up. He sighed, adjusting his hat to block the sun's glare. "What happened?"

"You returned him before I got off him, sorry." Anthony dusted himself off and grasped the straps of his backpack, grinning. "So, ready to go in?" Unlike Sapphire, Anthony was more mundane. While he was taller, at around six foot four, he had a skinnier figure, with pale skin, short blond hair, and electric blue eyes. He wore a plain white shirt with gray sweatpants and had a white and yellow backpack, which was filled with just medicine and his pokéballs. All in all, he looked like an older high schooler, around eighteen years of age.

"Yeah, sure." Sapphire sighed and led the way into the building, walking to the receptionist. "I'm here for the professor, what floor is she on?"

She looked up and smiled, pointing at the elevators. "You're Sapphire Chaser then? She and the others are waiting on the third floor, you're the last one here." Sapphire 'tched' and walked to the elevator, while Anthony thanked her, jogging to catch up to the blue and black-clad guardian, jumping into the elevator just as it closed.

"That was kind of rude."

"Whatever. I just came to see what's so important that I had to fly over a full ocean uncomfortably."

"We could have taken a plane."

"Planes are too slow. Besides, maybe they should have waited until we were done for sure with that business in Kanto."

"Nobody could have known it would take so long…" Anthony chuckled nervously at the dark aura Sapphire was giving off, before smiling. "By the way, thanks for the help. I don't think a simple pokémon doctor could have done all that on his own."

Sapphire looked at him out of the corner of his eye, before huffing. "I may not seem friendly, but Aura Guardians protect humans and pokémon, and it was a dangerous situation. I was obligated to help."

"...Was that supposed to make me feel better, or worse...?" Sapphire didn't answer him, as the elevator dinged and he exited, Anthony following.

"Hello? Professor?" Sapphire turned a corner and studied the lab in front of him. Several bookshelves, multitudes of computers, and several scientists talking. The most eye-catching part was a machine in the very back, shaped like a giant ring and about ten feet in diameter, and plugged into several machines.

"Whoa, what the hecks that thing?" Anthony began walking over to it until he was stopped by a random scientist.

"Ah, there you are." Sapphire stopped watching his companion and turned to the tan woman talking to him, with two trainers and a poorly dressed scientist next to her.

"I assume you're Burnet then?"

"You'd be correct in that assumption. This here is my husband and fellow professor Kukui, and the other trainers I've invited are Miss Willow Throne and Mister Noct Umbra." Sapphire raised an eyebrow at the third name and turned to the trainer.

"Yeah, my parents have a fascination with pokémon types. Pretty sure you can tell that just from my name." He grinned and winked, as Sapphire just sighed.

"Sure, whatever. Now, why did you want me to come here?"

Kukui laughed, "Well aren't you cheery! As you can tell from the name, the dimensional research lab researches dimensions and other worlds. Included in this, are the ultra beasts. Beings from other worlds, which also include the legendary pokémon Solgaleo and Lunala."

Sapphire crossed his arms nodding. "Yes, I've dealt with them before."

"Which is why the three of you have been called here. You've dealt with Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma before, Willow here has dealt with a pokémon called Hoopa who can travel between worlds using its hoops, and Noct dealt with legendary pokémon of antimatter Giratina, which has its very own dimension, the reverse world."

"So is it a problem that Anthony is here?" He pointed over his shoulder, where the blond was arguing with two scientists now, wanting to get closer to the ring. "He hasn't dealt with any of these pokémon. I only brought him because I owe him one, and this seemed interesting."

"It's fine! This isn't top secret or anything, but as some of the only people to deal with interdimensional pokémon, we thought you'd like to see the first trial, cous!" He waved over a scientist who was carrying several bundles of clothing. "But first, we all need to put on this protective gear. This device is slightly dangerous."

Sapphire sighed, taking the clothes. "Of course…"

* * *

Sapphire grunted as he adjusted the protective gear he had put on over his original outfit, and gripped his staff that he had removed and placed on the outside of his gear. He wouldn't fit on the inside, so he attached it to the outside for easy use. It was just disconcerting that he couldn't feel it physically on his back unless he reached back.

"So!" The person in the protective gear across from could only be identified by their height and voice, as the gear hid their figure and face. But by the height and voice, it was obviously Professor Kukui. "Now that we're in our gear…" He stepped back and gestured towards the ring Anthony had been trying to approach. "We can talk about the Pseudo Ultra Wormhole! Name change pending."

"So what does it do?" A suit of protective gear asked, quickly identified as Anthony within Sapphire's head.

"We've been studying the Ultra Wormholes used by Ultra Beasts and the alolan legends, and think we've found a way to replicate them without needing any of the aforementioned pokémon!"

"...Why would you want to do that?"

"C'mon Sapph!"

"Don't call me Sapph."

"It's science! Who wouldn't want to make a teleportation device! Because that's basically what this is right?"

"Right in one," Burnet spoke up, folding her arms. "Teleportation would revolutionize the world, especially for people who don't have pokémon that can teleport, like alakazam or gardevoir. No need for planes or boats, except for leisure I guess, But it would be incredibly useful. And the ultra beasts can use ultra wormholes to travel incredible distances in seconds, probes we've sent through actual wormholes travel light years in milliseconds!"

"So now you've made a wormhole machine." Noct clasped his hands behind his head, tilting it. "Is it safe?"

"To machines, yes!"

The three trainers and one doctor looked at each other, somehow knowing they were all deadpan looks through the opaque visors.

"But today will be the first human test, we'll be teleporting straight to a sister lab on Mele mele island!"

"Um, I didn't really sign up to test myself on this…"

"Oh, did you think we would be using you all to test this Wilow? Of course not! We just wanted you to witness this momentous occasion, I'll be testing this personally. You're wearing the suits because the radiation the pseudo wormhole gives off can be poisonous if you're exposed for too long."

"Oh, well that makes me feel better." Sapphire rolled his eyes behind his visor and gestured to the ring.

"Well if you're so excited, get it started. The sooner we start, the sooner you can show off your invention to the world." Anthony sighed behind his helmet at Sapphire's disinterest, going to put his hands in his pocket before remembering the suit.

"Ha, right! Start her up!" Several of the scientists, also in the protective gear, began working on the computer, starting up the ring. Lights on the outside of the ring began lighting up until all of them were alight, and the center of the portal lit up with a familiar pale blue light, with a whiter center.

Everyone watching winced, and Sapphire sighed at a headache that was forming, remembering the pain that the holes in spacetime could cause to onlookers. Unlike the actual wormholes, there were no cracks in reality around it, most likely due to the ring containing it, but that didn't stop the mounting sense of vertigo that was beginning to overtake him… Actually, was the room shifting?

Several of the machines began beeping wildly, and multiple lights on the outer part of the ring smashed, as the scientists began panicking. Sapphire snapped into action, herding the scientists out. "Everyone, go! Don't try to fix it, It'll fix itself when it's done! For now, we need to get out of here!" Parts of the ring were beginning to bend inwards, as the metal warped in response to the heavy gravity coming from the center of the ring. Cracks in reality were beginning to appear, and the very world around him seemed to slope, as the wormhole began turning a violent red and black, gravity becoming stronger.

Burnet was leading the scientists out, while Kukui herded them. Sapphire tore his eyes from the now migraine inducing portal, to see Noct, Willow, and Anthony still watching in horror. "What the hell are you waiting for?! MOVE!" His shouting shocked them out of it, and they began sprinting to the stairs, as the elevator had shut down.

The entire building shuddered, and Sapphire felt his feet slipping from under him as the portal suddenly got a boost in power, its gravity becoming stronger than the earth's gravity. Sapphire fell, slamming into a desk, and then a computer as he fell towards the demonic looking portal. He gripped the edge of a desk, and slowed, until the portal's gravity increased again, and scrambled for another thing to hold as the desk broke under his weight.

He growled, and pushed aura through his body, gripping the edge of the portal as he fell through. Thanks to reinforcing his body with aura, his arm wasn't relocated. He couldn't resist looking down and paled under his suit at the unearthly sight below him. Regular ultra wormholes had a deep blue within, with multicolored exits to various worlds scattered around. Inside this one, It was an endless black abyss, with random spots of blood red color scattered like a murder scene.

He felt his grip slip, and scrambled with his other hand for the edge, until he remembered his staff, and reached back to grab it. He poked it out of the tear in reality, trying to find something to latch onto, until something- or someone- grabbed it. He looked up to see… well, he didn't know, until the voice spoke up from inside the suit. "Hold on, you stubborn cosplayer!"

"Noct?! I said to get out! You'll be pulled in too!"

"Oh come on! That's how you thank someone for saving your life?!" Noct tried to use a humorous tone but failed as the gravity kept increasing, making him strain to hold the staff. He kept bending forward more, his feet planted on the edge of the hole, almost being sucked in as well.

"Dammit, just leave me for god's sake!" Sapphire grunted as he felt his body and suit begin to be put under immense stress, the fabrics of the protective gear straining. He gasped as he felt a stronger pull from Noct, and looked up to see two others pulling on him, helping him keep a hold.

"Don't worry Mister Chaser, we've got you!"

"We've still got to travel the rest of Johto, remember? Don't let go now!"

"OH YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"

Several pieces of concrete were flying past them, the building being torn apart around them. Sapphire grunted, having spread his aura to Noct's, Anthony's, and Willow's bodies, hoping to keep their bodies from being torn apart. "Just go! I won't have you dying to save me!" Sapphire gasped, feeling himself be pulled back, as his staff began to be pulled out of his hands.

"No, Sapph!" The fabric of his glove finally split, revealing his regular Aura Guardian glove underneath, as he fell back into the portal. He fell head over heel, continuously spinning, with no reference of what was up or down, except the hole that daylight shone through, which seemed to be slowly closing.

* * *

Kukui dug through the rubble of the Dimensional Research Lab, desperately trying to find a sign of any of the teenagers. "Come on, come on, come on!" He tossed aside a larger piece of rubble, finding one of the machines that had powered the ring, and had miraculously not been pulled in. It still had a bit of power, and the files hadn't been corrupted, maybe he could use it to find a way to bring the kids back if they'd really been…

"Professor!" He turned and saw several of the scientist holding up the mangled ring. It somehow maintained its circular shape, but all of the metal had been pulled inwards towards the portal. On parts of the metal were pieces of the protective suits, one had a part of Anthony's shirt, another had pieces of Noct's Jeans, and a third had the torn fabric of Willow's skirt.

"No…" Kukui fell to his knees, hand resting on the metal. "Damn it…"

* * *

"OOF!" Sapphire gasped, feeling something smash into him, and looked to see somebody in one of the suits struggling to take off his glove, to replace Sapphires ripped one. Through the cracks in the helmet, he could see a familiar shock of golden blond hair and groaned at the what his companion had just done.

Two more impacts slammed into him, and he coughed as he felt one slam into his stomach and the other onto the side opposite Anthony. He didn't even have to look to guess who they were. "Why the hell would you follow me in?!" He didn't even have to yell, as unlike the outside of the portal, which was loud with the sounds of things smashing and being pulled in, the inside of the portal was completely silent.

"Well even without my heroic lifestyle," Sapphire narrowed his eyes at Noct's sarcasm, "I didn't have a choice. After you fell in I felt a rush of fatigue, and couldn't stop myself from falling in after the other two slammed into me. But hey, at least you've got your pole back." Sapphire looked, and indeed, his staff was held in Noct's hand.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. We're falling away from the only visible exit, and nothing is visible in the other direction. If what Kukui said is true, We'll die slowly, soon. Our suits filter the air, and without air in here we'll suffocate. Even if there was air, the radiation in here is poisonous according to Kukui, so we'd die of that. There's nothing we can do."

Everyone around him stilled, the consequences of the situation dawning on them. Sapphire just stared ahead, looking out into the nothing, taking a shuddering breath. He felt slightly guilty at making them all feel bad, after all, they were pulled in trying to save him, weren't they? "Listen…" Sapphire began to speak until he noticed why they had stilled. All of their suits had leaks in the helmets, and they were all going unconscious from lack of air.

While his glove was torn off, the suit had sealed the rest of his body, meaning he still had air. Sapphire looked down, contemplating what to do. He could give them the rest of his air, but wouldn't that prolong the pain of drifting endlessly, until suffocation? He grit his teeth until he gasped as he felt a weight on his chest. That was right, he had the perfect pokémon to help! But he would expose himself to the radiation, and lose all of his air at once…

Sapphire steeled himself, preparing to rip off the suit. He was an Aura Guardian, he would always sacrifice himself for the safety of humans and pokémon. He unclasped his suit, the pressurized air making the others slowly drift away from his body, and revealed his guardian outfit underneath. He reached down and tore off the special pokéball on his necklace, the magnetic ends of the necklace clasping together. He pointed the white premier ball forward, releasing the pokémon inside with a bright flash.

A roar sounded out, hundreds of times louder within the soundless void than it normally was. Somehow, even without air, sound could travel, one of the things Sapphire was grateful for. Perhaps the radiation? The large gold and white form illuminated the void and turned to its trainer. _"Sapphire, where are we?"_ Sapphire shook his head, pointing at his throat and then pointing towards the bodies of his fellow trainers. The pokémon nodded, _"Got it. Hang on."_ Sapphire grasped onto the mane of the pokémon, its strong as steel back painful, if there was gravity.

The pokémon gracefully flew through the void and allowed Sapphire to grasp the hands of the unconscious trainers, and pull them onto the golden pokémon's back. _"Now what? This looks like an Ultra Wormhole, but… obviously, there's something wrong with it. You'll go unconscious soon, I need to get you to the exit."_ Sapphire pointed towards where they had entered, he assumed, but the portal entrance was no longer there. Instead, there was just a large amount of rubble. _"...Ah."_

Sapphire's eyes widened, and he grasped his pokémon's mane, beginning to panic. _"Don't worry, I've always just exited through an exit that I found within an ultra wormhole, but I believe I can make one. I'll need a massive power up to do so though. Do you have enough energy?"_

Sapphire nodded, his eyes hardening. He grasped his staff, not having let go of it the whole time. He was beginning to lose consciousness, but he couldn't give up, not yet. He focused, pouring his aura into the staff. The orb at the top began glowing blue, with the symbol inside glowing bright with every color in the spectrum. The crystals inside his Z-Power Ring glowed as well, powering up with his staff. He poured the energy into The pokémon he was riding, powering it up, and pushing it past its limits.

 _"You certainly are impressive Sapphire."_ Sapphire smiled, feeling the now physical bond that stretched between their bodies. He gestured forward, pointing towards the abyss. _"Right."_ The pokémon focused, pulling the power inward, its form changing, from that of a gold, white, and black lion to a purely golden and ethereal form with prismatic eyes, a large dragon that could have carried several others on its back easily. It roared, feeling the power flowing through it, and prepared to save the people on its back.

 _"Now!"_ Light burned off of its body as if it were a thousand galaxies mashed into one body, all burning with an intensity that rivaled the very sun. Light began coalescing in front of its mouth and between its four wings, becoming an orb of pure radiance, and growing larger and larger as the very darkness surrounding them was pulled in, making the void seem a dull and monotone grey. The orb quickly grew to match the pokémon's height, its diameter now twenty-six feet, and growing larger still, twice, then thrice the pokémon's size, until it could grow no more, and seemed to be the only thing in the void that was not a deep gray.

 ** _"LIGHT THAT BURNS THE SKY!"_** The pokémon threw it forward, the orb blasting forwards and smashing through reality, creating an explosion that outgrew first a building, then a city block, then an entire city. After the light faded, a golden hole, similar to the one they entered through, although it was obviously not as demonic looking. The pokémon was left breathing hard and felt its power fading, so it quickly flew forward, through the portal. As it flew forward, it felt air begin to flow against its body, and flew faster, hoping to save its trainer.

* * *

Above a massive blood-red forest, a blue and white portal opened, with golden light shining out from within. Suddenly, a massive form flew out, Too close to the ground to even think about changing its trajectory, and instead spun itself in midair, clasping the much smaller figures on its back close to its chest, shielding them with its wings. It smashed into the ground, creating a small quake, and sending trees flying.

The large golden dragon sighed, letting its wings splay to the side, as the only near unconscious trainer got off of its chest, patting it on its side. "Thank you Necrozma, you saved us."

 _"Just returning the favor Sapphire… but could you maybe return me? I'm feeling a bit tired…"_ Sapphire chuckled, taking the premier ball and returning the large dragon, unclasping the magnetic part of his necklace and sticking the ball between the parts, letting them clasp on and hold the pokéball. He froze as three thumps sounded out behind him, milliseconds apart.

"Oh… dear…" Sapphire quickly began setting up a camp in the new clearing Ultra Necrozma had created by crashing. He picked up his staff that had landed nearby, removed his tent from his pouch, and removed Willow's and Noct's tents from their bags, as well as their sleeping bags. He set everyone up inside their bags and tents, except Anthony, who he put in his own bag and tent, as Anthony had neither.

He then began setting up a crockpot and refilled everyone's water bottles, replacing the water inside with that of a nearby, clear stream. Afterward, he collected a multitude of broken branches and stones, setting up a fire. He grabbed some ingredients that Anthony had in his bag and began cooking for everyone, hoping they'd wake up soon. As dusk began approaching Sapphire held his forehead, feeling a sudden headache come on. "What? I feel like I've used a bunch of my aura… but I haven't used it once for hours. And my reserves were barely depleted even after that whole portal debacle…"

He removed his hat, brushing some of the sweat away. He paused, and looked down at his hand, concerned at the fact he was sweating after barely any manual labor for the past hour. He shook his head, trying to ignore how dizzy it made him and looked towards the tents when the others woke up. "You're all awake, good. The foods ready."

"Dang, I should have waked up earlier, now I've got to eat your cooking." Sapphire scowled at him and ladled out the stew he had made, giving bowls to everyone. "I've set up a camp, we've all got stocks of food to last a while, and the stream by the camp will supply us with water."

"Right, thanks." Noct grinned and began eating. He paled at the taste of the food Sapphire had prepared, before continuing to eat after seeing the death glare Sapphire sent him. "Uh, so any idea where we are?"

"Well I know that there are no naturally occurring red forests anywhere in the world, so we must be somewhere where it's fall? Maybe?" Willow smiled nervously, eating the stew slowly, trying to ignore the bad taste.

"According to the season of Johto, where we were several hours before the portal incident, it can't be fall anywhere in the world currently. There is really no logical reason for an entire forest to have red leaves. Even if it were Autumn, we'd see leaves of yellow and orange."

"You're nervous Anthony, you're beginning to list facts normal people don't care about." Sapphire deadpanned into his stew, not even lying to himself about his cooking abilities. Maybe he should have waited for them to wake up, he'd only have to wait another hour for food.

"R-right, sorry." Noct chuckled at the byplay and put his bowl aside.

"Either way, it's almost night time, we can look at the stars to see where we are."

"Oh! That's a good idea! Don't sailors look at the stars to find out where they are?"

"Pretty much. I liked looking at star charts when I was younger, I should be able to find out at least what continent we're on."

Sapphire tilted his head towards the sunset, "You're right about that, it's seconds away. Get a lock on where we are, then we can work out what to do from there. And eat your stew, its been hours."

Noct rolled his eyes and grabbed the bowl, continuing to eat. "Yeah yeah, what are you my mom now?" Sapphire sighed and rubbed his head, the headache continuing to grow worse. He looked up when he heard the clatter of metal on metal and saw that Noct had dropped his bowl, looking slack-jawed at the sky, with Willow and Anthony.

Instead of trying to ask what had stunned them and not getting an answer-back, he turned around to look for what shocked them. He subsequently went slack-jawed as well, when he saw the shattered pieces of the moon floating beside it, below a sky where all the stars were in different positions.

* * *

Several hours before the group of pokémon trainers became stunned by the broken moon, A tall bespectacled man wearing a black suit with a gray cane in his hands looked out the window of his tower, watching as miles away, a large golden portal, for even at this distance it was large, opened and spat out a golden shape. Seconds later, a dust cloud, lowercase 'D', shot up, before settling.

The man turned, and pressed a button on his desk, turning on the intercom to his assistant, even as he cycled through a multitude of cameras around the area the golden shape landed at. It seemed that most of the cameras nearby the landing had been smashed… no matter. "Glynda, would you mind sending teams RWBY and JNPR to my office?"

* * *

 **Yay, two trainers, a pokémon doctor, and an Aura Guardian have faceplanted in the forever fall forest. that'll be interesting. This is also the first time I'm using Grammarly, and I'm pretty sure the overall quality is better than usual. Anyway, I'm setting up this story's schedule to be a new chapter every third Saturday, like A New Dawn, but the Saturday after it. Hopefully, this makes it feel like a shorter wait since now there are two stories. Anyway, this means I've got to get some coffee so I can write chapter two by Saturday so this schedule works.**


	2. Chapter 2: Darkened Night

**Yay chapter two. It actually only took me two days of writing to finish this, even if I was watching copious amounts of anime at the same time and staying up late. Anyway, continuing where the last chapter left off, enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Darkened Night

* * *

Ruby Rose bit her nails nervously as she rode the elevator up to the headmaster's office. Were they in trouble? They couldn't be in trouble, they hadn't done anything wrong! Maybe… "Yang, what did you do?!"

"What?! I didn't do anything!" Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's older sister, wasn't as nervous as Ruby, but she was curious about why they were being called up to Professor Ozpin's office, as well as Team JNPR. It did look like Ruby had forgotten they'd been called up too.

"Be quiet dolt!" The teams resident Ice Queen, Weiss Schnee, yelled scolding the team's' leader. Honestly, having a fifteen-year-old leader could be very irritating sometimes. But she had said she'd trust her to be a good leader, so all she could do now is try to help her.

Blake Belladonna, the quietest of the team of the team just sighed, ignoring the argument that was now growing inside the small metal box. She just wanted to know what they were being called up for, and Team JNPR as well.

Eventually, the elevator doors dinged, and Ruby shot out, rose petals flying off of her as she used her semblance until she skid to a stop in front of Ozpin's desk. "HelloProfessorOzpinwhydidyoucallusupherewe'resosorryforwhateverwedidwedidn'tdoanythingwrongweallblameYangforit!"

"Hey!"

Professor Ozpin put down his mug of coffee, a smile on his face. "Calm down Miss Rose, you and your team aren't in any trouble."

"Oh. Well, okay. You can, um, ignore that whole rant thing… yeah." Ruby rocked back and forth on her heels, pulling the hood of her cloak forward to cover her blushing cheeks.

"How did you understand any of that, Yang?" Ruby gasped and turned to see what most of the school considered Team RWBY's sister team, even though two of the members, including the leader, were male. In fact, it was that leader who was talking to the buxom blonde of Team RWBY now. "I mean, I could barely understand any of that…"

"Eh, I'm used to it Jaune. Older sibling sense, you know?"

"I guess."

"Hi, guys! How'd you get here before us?"

"We were walking back to our dorms when Professor Goodwitch let us know that the Headmaster wanted us all to go to his office, so we were already nearby."

"Miss Nikos, I believe the headmaster would like to tell you all why he called you here now."

"Sorry Miss Goodwitch…"

Professor Ozpin waited until the two teams had been quieted down and then stood up, bringing up a video of the golden portal and the golden shape that had crashed into the forest. Both teams watched in shocked silence as the massive dust cloud shot up, showing just how heavy the object was. The video feed then changed to a damaged camera lodged into one of the trees, that had a very static filled shot. In the shot, a large golden claw and parts of what looked like a wing were lying limp on the ground, whatever they were attached to out of view. With a knocked over tree lying right next to the leg, everyone could see the leg itself was around ten feet long, and several feet thick.

"Whoa!" Yang had her hands up, a large grin on her face. Now that looks like it'd be fun to fight!"

"Be serious Yang, If that's only its leg, It might be even bigger than the Nevermore we fought at Initiation. And we almost died fighting that!"

"Naw, It'll be fine!" The hammer-wielding maiden of Team JNPR, Nora, exclaimed. "Because we can go after it together!"

The only other male on the team sighed, Ren both amused and exasperated at his partners' energy. "I suppose if all of us fought it together, we could have a chance." He turned to the headmaster, who was watching him with a knowing smile. "Because that's what you called us up here for isn't it? You want us to go find out what that thing was, don't you." It wasn't even a question, just a statement.

"Correct Mister Ren, but that wasn't the end of the video." He pressed play, and the video continued. The leg and wing were still lying there until sounds came from out of view of the camera. Moments later, the leg and wing were cloaked in a deep red aura and were sucked away, off-screen. The students began freaking out until Ozpin shushed them. "Now, let me show you the same thing with the audio uncorrupted.

The scene played out again, but this time a man's voice was heard. "... You Necrozma… Saved us." After, growling noises sounded out, presumably from the creature, which from the context clues they were given, was named Necrozma. Moments later, the red aura appeared again, and the leg and wing disappeared.

"So that creature has a name?" Blake had finally spoken up, and while she still looked bored, there was an intrigued glint in her eye.

"Perhaps." Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug and placed it back on the desk. "We don't have enough data to tell for sure, but that also wasn't the end." The video began playing again, and this time from another camera, by a small stream. It showed the back of, apparently, the man who had been talking before. He had several objects in his hands and was filling them with water from the stream. After he was done, he turned around and began walking off screen. The brim of his hat covered most of his face, but his outfit was clearly visible, including what everyone assumed was his weapon, the staff with a sapphire orb and metallic ring.

Glynda turned on the scroll she held in her hands and began tapping at the screen. "Your objective is to take a bullhead to the crash site of the creature and the man and find him. I will be going with you, in case the creature is still there, or if there are larger amounts of Grimm than normal, as the crash may have attracted them."

"Sounds like fun!" Yang pounded her fists together, Ember Celica unfolding as she did so. "I kinda hope we get to fight the thing!"

Weiss sighed and nodded to the headmaster. "We'll make sure she doesn't destroy anything, you can count on us, Professor."

"I'm sure I can." He hid a smile behind his mug and pressed a few buttons on his desk. "A bullhead is waiting on the landing pads, Do be careful."

The two team leaders nodded, with Ruby giving a playful salute. Both teams piled into the elevator, with the deputy headmistress following them.

* * *

"HOLY CRAP!"

Sapphire winced at the volume of the yell, it being so loud that it knocked him out of his stunned state. It also agitated his headache, and he glared at Noct. Noct looked at Sapphire and saw his glare, and began to fume. "Don't get angry at me for yelling! The freaking moon is BROKEN!"

"We have to calm down, and think about this logically, not start freaking out." Even as he said that his breathing was accelerated, and his heart was beating a thousand times a minute. "A-alright, I never really looked at constellations myself, but do you recognize anything?"

Noct tried slowing his breathing, and his eyes darted across the sky. "Uh… No, there's nothing! Ursaring major and minor, Draco, Pyroar minor or major, none of them are there!"

Willow just held her legs to her chest, breathing in and out, while Anthony just shook in place. "Maybe there are clouds in the way! Right Sapph? Noct?"

"There aren't clouds for miles!" Noct pulled at his hair, looking up at the stars, eyes darting back and forth.

"Alright!" Sapphire stood up and grabbed their attention. "This obviously isn't home, the moon isn't blown up into a million pieces, so the main thing we need to do is get back to earth."

"Well, maybe we can take another Ultra Wormhole!" Anthony pointed at Sapphire. "That's how we got here right?"

"No good, Ultra Wormholes occurring naturally is exceedingly rare, and I do have a pokémon that can travel through wormholes, but to get home we'd need a trail to follow, like breadcrumbs. When we travel through a wormhole, we naturally leave that trail, but since that was a man-made Ultra Wormhole…"

Anthony sighed, slumping over. "Then even if we found a natural wormhole, there'd be no trail back home."

"So we need Kukui and the others to make another Pseudo Ultra Wormhole then?" Noct sighed, falling back, hair splayed out. "Great, I'm sure they'll be able to make another one within the next few days. And I'm sure it definitely won't be imploding in on itself within seconds again."

Willow hid her face in her legs sighing. "And then there's the whole radiation and no air thing. So we're stuck here."

"Unfortunately." Sapphire looked back up at the moon, before turning to the others. "Okay, I'm sure we're all tired, so we'll get some sleep, then decide what to do in the morning. Hopefully, there's civilization nearby…"

"Yeah… Yeah, let's do that…" Noct sighed, beginning to crawl back into his tent until he was stopped by Sapphire.

"No, we need to set up a sleep schedule."

"What? Why do we need a schedule?"

"We have no idea what planet this is, on earth we literally collect creatures that can control the elements, what do you think could be here?"

Noct sighed at his logic, massaging his forehead. "Alright, so how do we set up a schedule?"

"Someone stays up and keeps watch, and shouts if anything happens. DO NOT run off into the forest if you see something and want to chase it, this is not going to be a crappy horror film. That person will keep watch for three hours, meaning the rest of us will get nine hours of sleep. I'll take the first watch, who wants next?"

Noct raised his hand slightly, "I guess I should. I'm still feeling tired for some reason from the portal thing, so I'd like some rest right now."

Sapphire sighed to himself, looking down at his hand. It seemed filling the others with his aura to keep their bodies from being torn apart by the higher gravity, and to protect them slightly from the radiation had some side effects. They were all more tired than usual, after all, who can go back to sleep after sleeping away a large portion of the day? There were probably other side effects from giving them his aura, but he'd have to worry about that later.

"I'll take the last watch," Anthony spoke up, "I can make breakfast that way as well. No offense but you really need lessons." Sapphire scowled and turned to Willow.

"You've got the third watch then, Willow." Willow nodded, crawling to her tent. Sapphire watched her go and sighed, walking over to the stump of a destroyed tree. "You two as well. Get some rest."

Noct and Anthony nodded wordlessly, crawling into their tents. Well, Noct crawled into his own, and Anthony crawled into Sapphire's. Sapphire sat on the stump, kneading his forehead, before looking at the moon. "Where in Arceus's name are we?"

* * *

Noct turned over, yawning as he heard someone bang on his tent. "I'm up damn it." He crawled out of his sleeping bag and brushed his hair back with his hand, before pausing when he saw it was night. "What…?" He then turned and saw the shattered moon, still hanging ominously in the sky. "Right. Still on Arceus knows where."

"It's your turn." He turned to see Sapphire holding his head and wincing as he crawled into the now vacant tent.

"Hey, are you okay?" Noct reached out a hand, concerned that the guy was injured somehow.

"I'm fine, just a headache."

Noct was silent for a second. "So, you're not just a regular trainer are you? I mean, I've seen people dress up pretty outlandishly, but you look like you're cosplaying as a blue and black Link."

"Don't compare me to a video game character." Noct snickered at the deadpan tone coming from the tent and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm an Aura Guardian."

Noct tilted his head, a frown forming. "Never heard of 'em."

There was a thud from inside the tent, followed by a groan. "All you need to know is that Aura Guardians use aura, a power that exists within everything, and can harness it to use abilities like pokémon, aura sphere, force palm that kind of thing."

"That sounds pretty cool."

"Right, we can also use it to affect the physical world around us, water walking, enhanced jumps and speed, we hit harder too. But we can't misuse it, our main objective is the protection of humans and pokémon, and to protect the world from dangerous threats."

"Great I've got my very own superhero to protect me." the tent opened slightly and a blue eye glared out at him. "So you think you can teach me any of that magic soul stuff?"

"I may have no choice."

"Eh?"

"Mixing somebody's life force with another's without the proper precautions or techniques can be a bit dangerous, and I did just that to protect you all from the void."

"Wait, is something wrong with us now?"

"I don't think so, the aura I supplied you with should have been enough to deal with the small amount of radiation from the void without any dangerous side effects, but there may be other side effects."

"Yeah? Will I suddenly be able to use ghost type moves or something?"

"Maybe. Or maybe I awakened your psychic abilities like those girls from that one gym in the Kanto region. Perhaps you'll be able to see aura. There's no way to tell right now. But shouldn't you start your watch now? I'd like to sleep."

"Sorry, it's just… I'm still kind of panicking you know? I mean, I'm usually a pretty chill guy, and when it comes to jokes and pranks I'm a bit more energetic, but… this whole thing is just…" He gestured with his arms, trying to find the right words. "you know?"

"I guess." There's was silence for a moment.

"So why do you cover your eye with your bangs like that? If you're always fighting, wouldn't you want your hair out of your face?"

"You sound way too much like my mom..."

"If it's that sensitive of a topic…" Noct snickered.

"Ha. Ha." He pulled open the tent and pulled his bangs aside. Instead of a normal eye, with a blue iris and black pupil, he had a golden colored iris, with a blue pupil. "My family line goes back centuries, an entire side of my family consisting of Aura Guardians. But only the strongest of them had this." He pointed to his odd colored eye.

"One eye would be normal, but their other eye would have a golden iris, with the pupil being the color of their normal eye. Normally those who had it would be born with this trait, but I wasn't born with it, I unlocked it during incredibly intense training. The first to ever do this."

"That's pretty cool. But uh, is there any significance to it besides looking cool?"

"Some of my family said those with the golden iris were destined for great things. Others said we had more powerful auras, with more control. Nobody really knows."

"Damn, I was hoping it would be like a Sharingan thing."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Sapphire just sighed. "Whatever. Now leave me alone, I need to sleep. I've got a wicked headache."

"Sure, night, Sasuke." Sapphire sent him one last glare before closing the tent flap.

Noct walked over to the stump Sapphire had sat on and held his hand out in front of him. "Hmm." He threw his hand forward, "Shadow ball!" nothing flew out of his hand, and he sighed, letting his chin fall into his hand, bored. "Welp, time to sit here for three hours…" He groaned and fell back, already bored.

* * *

Noct sighed, in that halfway state between sleep and consciousness, drool running down his face. He groaned and reached up, rubbing his face, before smacking himself a few times, trying to wake up. He wiped away the drool and stood up, stretching. "Damn, how long has it been…?" He reached into his bag and rooted around, taking out his pokédex. With a few button presses, he saw that only half an hour had passed.

"Arceus, how can hours pass, yet in reality, it has only been a few minutes?" He decided to take a walk around the perimeter of their camp, hoping it would pass the time and keep him awake. Halfway around the camp, rustling in the bushes caught his attention. Immediately he reached back, hand grasping a pokéball, rolling it between his fingers. "Guys?!" He stepped back as there was more rustling, now with some growls coming out.

There was some activity behind him as the others burst out of their tents, scrambling over themselves. Sapphire got to him first, sweeping his arm to the side, indicating to stay back. Anthony and Willow got to his side a moment later, pokéballs in their hand. "I don't know what it is, but I heard growling and rustling from back there, sorry if it's a false alarm…"

"If it is a false alarm we'll forgive you! We can't take risks out here." Anthony gave him a nervous grin before enlarging a pokéball. "So, what is out there?"

"There may be a slight problem…" Sapphire grimaced, his eyes glowing a brighter blue than usual, giving off an ethereal glow. "...But there's nothing there."

"What?!" Willow turned to him, pointing at him. "But we can literally see its glowing eyes! And the whole shaking and growling in the bushes!"

"Yes I know, which is why this is concerning." Sapphire enlarged the pokéball in his left hand and readied the staff in his right. "With aura sight, I can see anything with aura, which encompasses all living creatures. These things… There's a blank space, no aura exists there! These things aren't living beings!"

The bushes rustled again and out stepped what looked like a large wolf. It was around seven feet tall, had midnight black fur, eyes red as blood, and white bone plates over its face. Noct and Willow stepped back, while Anthony actually stepped forward. "Fascinating! This may be this world's version of a pokémon! It actually looks rather similar to a midnight form Lycanroc!"

The creature growled, and leaped forward, swiping with incredibly sharp claws at Anthony's face, but was stopped when Sapphire blocked its strike with his staff. He grunted, feeling the force behind its blow, and parried, swinging the staff around and smacking it in the face, making it stumble back. Sapphire scowled to himself, thinking. 'These things are much stronger than they look! Even though I was holding my staff with a single hand…' He turned to the others, "Go, deeper into the clearing!"

The others nodded, and began to back off, until the clearing was filled with several more of the wolves, then a dozen, then two dozen, then more and more. Everyone backed up, until they couldn't any further and were all back to back. They all looked at each other and nodded.

"Lucario, let's unleash our aura!"

"Ampharos, I need your help!"

"Hydreigon, time to party!"

"Roserade, show the forest's power!"

All four trainers unleashed their partner pokémon, each letting out their respective phrases.

In front of sapphire landed a near five-foot tall jackal-like pokémon. It stood on two black-furred legs, with its body being a mix of cobalt and cream colored fur, with a large spike in the center of its chest. It also had spikes on the backs of its paws, and Its face was also cobalt and black, however, the black fur formed a sort of mask around the pokémon's red eyes, that also covered feelers at the back of its head that could sense aura. " _I am ready, Master."_

Anthony grinned as his pokémon appeared from its pokéball, a large yellow pokémon about six feet tall standing in front of him. It had several black stripes on its neck, tail, and ears, with red orbs on the end of its tail, and on its forehead. " _I'm ready, Anthony!"_

The pokémon that floated in front of Noct was a large seven-foot tall dragon, most of its body covered in dark blue scales, with dark grey scales over its neck, arms, back and six wings. Two extra rows of black scales ran down its stomach until they intertwined and ran down the underside of its tail. At the ends of both arms there were extra heads, however, they didn't have the fangs or bright red pupils the main head had. " _All right, what do I get to kill?!"_

Lastly, in front of Willow landed an elegant looking pokémon that seemed to be a rose, if it grew to the size of a child. It stood at around four feet tall, and most of its body was covered in a bodysuit of leaves, with a darker green coating of leaves forming a sort of cloak. Where its left hand should have been was instead a bouquet of blue roses, and where its right hand should have been was a bouquet of red roses. Its 'hair' was a large white rose, and it had a darker leaf covering on its face, forming a pseudo mask over its red eyes. " _Let us dance, then."_

All the trainers except Sapphire were shocked and completely forgot about the pack of wolves around them. Noct shook his head, looking at Sapphire. "So, would this be a part of the whole side effects thing of you giving us your aura? Because I kind of just found out my pokémon's a homicidal killer! Well, I knew that already, he's a hydreigon, their whole thing is killing, they're literally called the brutal pokémon… but actually hearing him say he wants to kill is different!"

"What, side effect?" Anthony and Willow turned to Sapphire, who just shook his head.

"It doesn't matter right now, I'll explain later! Just know you finally have the ability to understand your pokémon perfectly with no error in translation, make the most of it!" With that, Sapphire bounded forward, ducking under the swipe of a wolf, and bringing his staff around to smash its head aside, his Lucario right behind him.

"What?!" Getting no reply, Anthony turned back to his Ampharos. "Uh, alright then, Ampharos, discharge!"

" _You got it!"_ Ampharos charged up, the red orbs on his body lighting up before it let loose a storm of energy, blasting across a whole part of the pack.

"Okay Roserade, poison spikes! Make it harder for them to move!"

" _Of course."_ Roserade spun, thorns flying out of her bouquet. The thorns landed in the tall grass, mostly green, except for at the tips where they turned a sickly purple. One of the wolf creatures tried running at Roserade, but stepped one of the spikes, flinching back as poison flooded their body.

"Hydreigon, let's show them what power really is! Wipe them all out with draco meteor!"

Hydreigon let out evil sounding laughs from all its mouths, flying up into the sky and sending gusts of wind out and staggering the trainers, pokémon, and wolves. " _Finally! DIE!"_ A purple orb of flame built inside his mouth, until it reached critical mass. He aimed up, firing it high into the sky. The flame orb flew higher and higher, until it exploded, sending dozens of smaller orbs screaming down from the sky. Each orb that landed exploded, killing dozens of the wolves.

"Reign in your damn dragon Noct!" Sapphire jumped back, dodging an orb that killed two wolves. Looking up, he paled as a gigantic raven creature smashed into Hydreigon head on. The raven had midnight black feathers, just as the wolves did, and also had the same blood red eyes and white bone mask. Hydreigon roared, yelling some rather choice curse words, and started biting down on its neck.

Hydreigon cursed the raven that dared harm him, and built up dark energy in his left head, holding the raven still with his main and right head. The raven cawed, scratching at his body with its talons, daring to try and injure him again. The energy finally finished building, and he fired it directly into its face, causing the raven to cry out in pain, and break away. " _COWARD! COME BACK AND LET ME KILL YOU!"_

The raven cawed, pulling its wings back, and then flinging them forward. Out of those wings, uncountable numbers of feathers shot out, heading straight for Hydreigon. "Hydreigon!" Noct's voice barely reached him at the height he was at, but hear it he did. "Use protect, quick!" He snarled at the command but followed it. He may have liked to kill, but he did acknowledge Noct as his trainer, he'd taken care of him for so long, and he believed he knew best.

A green shield appeared in front of his body, and any feather that slammed into it shattered, sending ripples across its surface. Down below, however, all of the feathers that missed Hydreigon had slammed into the ground, nearly impaling the trainers and pokémon. However, with so many wolves still alive, a lot of them were impaled, or cut in half. Anthony recoiled as a feather slammed into the ground feet away from him, causing him to fall over shaking.

Up close he could see just how large the feathers were, each one being the size of his body, and apparently hard and sharp as steel. "O-Oh crap!"

Sapphire turned, scowling at the sight of the feathers and Draco meteors raining down. "Everyone, into the forest!"

"What?!"

"We need to get underneath the trees! Or would you rather get blown up or skewered?!" The others looked at each other before Anthony and Willow returned their pokémon. Before Noct could return his, Sapphire grabbed his hand and dragged him into the trees. "Hydreigon will be alright! We need to go!" Noct looked back, before following into the deep shadows of the tree line, while the howls of the pack of wolves sounded out behind them.

* * *

Ruby kicked her legs back and forth, holding onto the edge of her seat, bored at the multi-hour flight. Really, she bet that with her semblance she could be running faster than the dang bullhead! What was taking so long?!

"Chill out Rubes, we'll be there soon!" Her sister grinned at her, throwing her a thumbs up, which she tried to smile at, before leaning back in her seat and groaning.

"I'm just so bored! How can we not be there yet?!"

"We have almost reached our destination, don't worry Miss Rose." Professor Goodwitch exited the cockpit, leaving the pilot alone, continuing to look down at her scroll.

"Great! I was starting to get antsy!" Nora cradled Magnhild in its grenade launcher form, a dangerous grin on her face. The frightened expression on Jaune's face was understandable, given how the barrel was pointing straight at his head. Or maybe it was just his motion sickness.

"I've just been occupying myself by thinking of how awesome a fight with the big gold creature thing would be!"

"I still think that it would be a stupid and childish idea to deliberate start a fight with a creature of that size," Weiss spoke, crossing her arms and huffing.

"Well, if we pla-" whatever Pyrrha was about to say was interrupted as the entire Bullhead shook, alarms coming from the cockpit. Everyone almost fell over, and Professor Goodwitch forced her way back into the cockpit to see the pilot struggling with the controls.

"What happened?!"

"I-I don't know! Something hit the left turbine, we're losing altitude!" The pilot was pulling back on the joystick and was barely keeping them from crashing into the tree line.

Another crash rocked the ship, and suddenly the back of the Bullhead was torn off, barely visible purple flames vanishing moments later. Professor Goodwitch scowled and turned to the hunters and huntresses in training. "Everyone, we're getting off now!"

"What?!" Jaune panicked, beginning to wave his arms. But, that's dangerous, isn't it? At the speed we're going, we might as well- ACK!" Whatever he was going to argue was cut off as his armor was coated in a black aura, as Pyrrha used her polarity semblance to pull him out of the aircraft.

"Sorry!"

Jaune cried out as he fell through the canopy, branches smacking against him, only his aura protecting him from getting multiple cuts and lacerations across his face. It didn't stop the pain, however, or the fact that he smashed into the ground face first. "Owww…"

"Sorry!"

"It's fine Pyrrha… Where's Miss Goodwitch?" A soft fluttering came from behind him and Professor Goodwitch walked out of the underbrush, completely unflustered.

Before anybody said anything, they all looked up as another explosion sounded out, and watched as an orb of purple flame smashed into the right rotor of the Bullhead, finally sending it down into the forest. Professor Goodwitch turned to the group of students in front of her, a no-nonsense look on her face. "Everyone split up. The panic most of you just felt may have attracted the Grimm, and we must find the objective. When you do, notify everyone with your scroll and make your way to the clearing from the video, we'll call for another Bullhead there and hold out. Miss Xiao Long, Miss Valkyrie, you two find the crash site, see if the pilot is still alive. We will not leave anyone behind."

"You got it Miss Goodwitch!"

"Yeah! C'mon Nora, let's go bust some heads!" The two girls ran into the woods towards where the transport went down, weapons unfolding and ready to be used.

* * *

Sapphire scowled as he ducked underneath the claw of another wolf creature, bringing his staff around to smack its head to the side, before placing his hand on its chest. He focused, and barely a millisecond later a burst of aura shot from his hand, tearing apart the creature's stomach. "Lucario! These creatures are weak to aura-based attacks, maybe because they have no aura of their own! Use aura sphere and force palm more often!"

" _I understand, Master."_ Lucario nimbly dodged two wolves swipes at once and smacked his staff formed from a bone rush against their legs, tripping them. With them on the ground, he formed an aura sphere in each hand, firing it into the wolves faces, causing their heads to explode. " _Where did the others go, Master?"_

"No idea! We were separated sometime after we entered the forest!" He rolled to the side, an aura sphere shooting from his hand, destroying a wolves legs, and then stuck his staff through its head with the end of the pole. "And I can't search for them since all of these creatures keep blocking my aura vision with their void of non-aura! HOW MANY OF YOU ASSHOLES ARE THERE?!" He punched straight through a wolves chest, before unleashing a burst of aura and exploding them from the inside out.

Roaring from above them caused them to look up, and through the trees, they could see Hydreigon high above them duking it out with the large raven. "I do hope that they don't use draco meteor or whatever that feather attack was. The trees may protect us, but one lucky shot could be all that's needed." They both gasped as a large grey aircraft flew directly over the trees, trailing fire and smoke, with bits of it trailing purple fire.

"Oh boy. I think Hydreigon may have hit what could have been our way out of here with a stray attack…" He scowled, ducking under a wolf attempting to bite his head off, letting Lucario kick it in the face with a flaming leg. "Come on, we need to check it out and rescue any survivors!"

" _Of course, master! Lead the way!"_ Sapphire leaped up and kicked a wolf in the face, using it as a springboard to leap into the underbrush. Lucario followed, sweeping his leg out, setting the bushes on fire to keep the wolves from following them.

Sapphire sprinted, wasting no more energy than he needed to as he dodged tree trunks and the odd wolf monster that appeared before him. Eventually, he entered a clearing created by the crashing ship, illuminated by purple and red flames. The back of the aircraft was open but covered in flames meaning they couldn't get in that way. "Lucario, help me get the door open!"

" _Right!"_ He bound forward, landing next to the main body, and stuck his fingers into the hatch. Lucario joined him, and both used their aura enhanced strength to pull it open with a horrible screech of metal on metal. Sapphire ran inside, taking off his hat to cover his mouth to protect himself from the smoke, and found the cockpit door. He tore it open to find a man dressed in pilots gear unconscious behind the controls.

"All right, let's get moving." He grabbed the guy and placed him over his shoulder, turning to see Lucario standing behind him.

" _Master, people with unknown auras are approaching, and those auras are… powerful. They are unrefined but possibly stronger than yours."_ Sapphire looked at him in surprise, before huffing.

"Alright, that could be bad. If I fought them with you we might be able to win, but still, we should try for peace … but with you with me, they may attack. Alright, for now, return."

" _Master."_ Lucario bowed, letting himself be returned. Sapphire exited the aircraft, placing his hat back on his head, and setting the pilot down by the side of the odd helicopter.

He suddenly threw himself to the side, as a massive Warhammer slammed down at where he just stood, smashing the ground. The entirety of the hammer was about the size of his entire body, with the actual hammer part being larger than his head. The weirdest thing about it was that the girl wielding it was shorter than him, hells she barely broke the five-foot mark! She had a pale complexion, with orange hair and turquoise eyes. And her outfit… how the hell was he supposed to describe something that looked like that?! All he knew was that it must be a crime to wear that much pink.

His instincts flared again, and he dodged to the side as several bullets flew by his head. Again it was another girl, but this time she had a whole mess of bright golden hair, all the way down to her waist. She had bright lilac colored eyes, with a pale complexion. Her outfit at least wasn't a mishmash of armor and cloth, having a tan jacket with a yellow shirt underneath that bared her midriff, with a brown belt over black mini shorts, with a longer asymmetrical white material forming a sort of skirt. What drew his attention, however, were the golden gauntlets she wore… that had barrels and smoke drifting from them? "Hey, buddy, eyes up here!" Sapphire's eye twitched. Great, she was one of those girls.

* * *

Yang and Nora had just reached the aircraft, just in time to see shadows moving around inside the cockpit, even as the fire raged. "Yang, maybe he caused us to crash!"

"What?"

"Think about it! Those weird purple things that were raining down and destroyed the aircraft, no Grimm could do that! So it has to be him!"

"Well…" Yang couldn't really find a fault with that logic, but before she could try to placate Nora, a red light shined out from the cockpit, and moments later The man from the video exited, with his cap covering his mouth, showing that he had brown hair, with parts dyed blue and covering his left eye. He placed his hat back on his head and lay the man down on the ground against the aircraft.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Nora!" Yang reached out but didn't grab her in time, and she extended Magnhild, bringing it down to smash the guy. He somehow reacted in time, dodging her strike easily. Well, if they were going to fight anyway… She bound out, throwing forward several punches, firing Ember Celica at the boy. Without even looking in her direction, He rolled, catching himself on one of his hands and knees, glaring at her. Heh, he had a pretty intense glare, didn't he? And those eyes had a definite power to them, they were practically glowing blue with strength! Well the right one, at any rate, the left one was still hidden behind his blue bangs.

She noticed his eyes were actually focused on her gauntlets, and smirked at the opportunity to get a joke in. "Hey, buddy, eyes up here!" He twitched, and scowled, rising to his feet, taking the staff from the video off his back and twirling it in his hands, settling into a ready position. Great, now they had a male Weiss on their hands! Who wouldn't laugh at that joke? Or at least blush?!

* * *

Sapphire scowled, glancing between the two girls. Lucario was right, they both had a powerful aura around them, however, unlike his, their's wasn't reigned in. They would be hitting hard, and they were probably quick too, but he could bet they wouldn't be able to use many abilities, like aura spheres or protect barriers.

Sapphire was brought out of his thoughts when the blonde girl rushed him, bringing her fist around. He brought his staff forward ready to move. 'Time to gauge their strength then.' He held his staff between both hands, blocking her punch. He gasped as he was pushed back, creating trails in the ground from the friction of his feet against the dirt. The strength of that punch was a hell of a lot stronger than he thought it would be! His staff actually bent slightly, cracking at where she hit it.

Sapphire jumped back, grimacing at the staff, before holstering it, and bringing his fists forward. He couldn't risk shattering his staff, but luckily he was just as skilled in hand to hand combat as he was with bōjutsu. The problem was, Aura Guardian weapons and clothing were all enhanced, and then enhanced further by the wearer's aura. So how the hell could a single punch nearly crack his weapon like that?

"Hey, what's with that face?" The blonde girl was speaking again, and he frowned as she placed her hands on her hips. Why couldn't she take combat seriously? "What, didn't think a couple of girls could do any damage to you or that rinky-dink staff of yours?"

Was she taunting him? How childish. One of the first things he learned was how to avoid taunts, so why not use her own tricks against her? "No, I just expected you to be a bit tougher than that. I mean really, its a wooden staff, and you couldn't break it in one punch? Pretty weak blondie. And what do you mean damage to me? All you've hit is my staff, try and be a bit faster there." The girl scowled, and set her stance, her eyes changing from lilac to red. Oh? That was an impressive trick. Of course, now he'd have to focus on dodging and counter-attacking. Being angry makes you hit harder after all, but your senses were dulled by anger.

The blonde girl dashed forward, bringing her fist around in a right hook that whiffed, Sapphire, having ducked underneath it to uppercut her, sending her tumbling back. His eyes shifted, and he backflipped over the redhead's hammer, as it swung around to crush his legs.

He landed, spreading the weight between his hands and feet, before sprinting forward with a burst of speed, punching at the girl. She quickly blocked with her Warhammer, but he switched from a punch to a grapple at the last second, gripping her Warhammer and using his momentum to throw himself over her, sweeping her legs from behind. She cried out as she fell, and Sapphire brought his fist down into her stomach, smashing her into the ground.

"GRAAAAGH!" Sapphire spun, barely bringing his fists up in time, as blondie smashed her fist into him. At the same time, her gauntlet fired its bullets, throwing him back, tumbling end over end, before smashing into the aircraft, and completely tearing through the metal. He groaned, feeling something wrong in his arm. When he looked, he noticed his left arm had been dislocated.

"Hey!" He turned and saw that both girls weren't even injured, and now the blonde girl was pointing both gauntlets at him, while the redhead was busy transforming her Warhammer into… a grenade launcher. Just perfect. "Surrender now, and maybe we'll think about letting you live!" He scowled and stood up, gripping his left arm. With a yell, he relocated it, tearing up from the pain. He wouldn't be using it to block or punch anytime soon, but at least it wouldn't be hanging limply.

"Surrender?! You're the ones that started this!" He brought his hands forward, pulsing aura through them until he had aura spheres in each. The girls backpedaled in shock, and he clapped his hands together, casing both spheres to explode into practically thousands of miniaturized aura spheres, each one speeding straight for the girls. They tried to defend themselves, but there were too many of them, and they were coming from every direction.

Smoke billowed as the spheres exploded, hiding the girls from view. Sapphire breathed out, holding his arm. He wouldn't disillusion himself into thinking that would be enough to knock them out, but hopefully, it had done some damage. He exited the aircraft while patting down part of his cape that had caught fire, and continued looking at the smoke. Suddenly, there were twin flashes of yellow and pink, as the girls' aura flashed, and they ran out of the smoke, weapons at the ready.

He scowled, holding his good arm in front of him. The entire time he had been fighting at a disadvantage, being outnumbered, unable to use his weapon, and now having use of only one arm except for aura techniques. On top of all that, the headache that had been growing since the portal incident hadn't abated, and at this point, it was getting hard to see past the pain.

He ducked back from the Warhammer strike and dodged the two successive jabs the blonde threw at him, lashing out with a sidekick, throwing her back and making her gasp for breath. He frowned, looking them over. Whenever he hit them, their auras flashed, the blondes aura yellow, with the redheads being pink. It seemed that while they couldn't use protect barriers or skilled aura techniques, they could coat their bodies in their aura, protecting themselves from harm while also healing their own injuries.

'I thought that I could beat them by outlasting them, but if they can heal themselves like that…' He shook his head, refocusing just in time to dodge a grenade that had a pink heart on the front and rush forward, jabbing her several times, before roundhouse kicking her away. 'No, I can still beat them… I can use an aura technique to overload their own aura, or perhaps call out several of my pokémon. I didn't want to as it seems this world doesn't have pokemon, but I seem to have no choice.' He began to reach for one of his pokémon's pokéballs, before gasping.

He threw his arm out and fired an aura sphere, the ball of energy careening through the air towards the blonde. She prepared to defend herself but looked confused when it flew over her shoulder. She turned and gasped when she saw it smash into the face of the wolf creature, sneaking up behind her. "You… saved me?"

"Of course! You attacked me, I wasn't trying to harm anyone! Hell, I was saving the pilot when the damn redhead attacked me," He yelled back at her. "What the hell did you attack me for in the first place?!"

The blonde stood still for a moment before looking at the redhead, who had somehow snuck up on him when he wasn't looking, causing him to recoil. "So you mean you didn't shoot down our Bullhead with those purple thingies?" He looked at the redhead before vehemently shaking his head.

"Of course I didn't! What reason would I have for doing so?!" Sapphire looked away, foregoing the fact that it was a companions pokémon that did so. They didn't need to know that.

"Whoopsies! My bad then!"

Sapphire twitched, before throwing his arm to either side. "Your bad?! You dislocated my arm and threw me through an airc- Bullhead!"

"Yeah, but that's all in the past! Come on, our teacher said when we find you to go to the clearing you were in!" Sapphire was beginning to have trouble keeping up with the girl and looked to the blonde, who began to pick up the pilot and carry him over her shoulder.

"Yeah, Nora can be a bit excitable. I'm Yang by the way. Sorry for the whole attacking you thing. The headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, saw some huge golden portal and creature, and then through some cameras in the area saw you. He made it our mission to come out and escort you back to the school."

Sapphire thought about what she said, even as he began absentmindedly following Nora and Yang. If he and the others went back to this school, they'd have a place to stay until they could find a way home, or Kukui made another, safer portal. But… He'd need to give this Headmaster Ozpin a reason to let them stay. He shook his head, his thoughts becoming clouded again. But… was it just him or was it really hot all of a sudden?

He held his head, his vision becoming blurry before he fell onto all fours. He held a hand in front of his face, trying to focus on it even while he heard what he thought was Yang and Nora yelling. He suddenly coughed, and his glove was stained with his blood, and a lot more than what was probably healthy to cough up. If it was healthy to cough up blood at all. Wow, was he getting woozy? That was his last thought, before he fell over, unconscious.

* * *

 **The end of the chapter, on a cliffhanger. Remember how everyone was talking about how the inside of the Pseudo Ultra Wormhole was super poisonous? Yeah, I didn't forget that or ignore it. Sapphire's been sick with radiation poisoning for pretty much half a day now, with no rest except a thirty-minute nap, while having made camp, made food, and fought off dozens of beowolves, Yang, and Nora. Could Sapphire have won if they fought to the finish? Maybe, but he was literally minutes away from going unconscious.**

 **Would he have won if he was fully rested and not poisoned? No idea. I want it to be that the remnant aura users are stronger, but less refined in their aura usage except for their semblances, and its protection and healing, while the pokémon world aura users just get lesser boosts to everything, and are more flexible in its usage, like aura spheres, force plam's, and various other pokémon moves. Plus the whole water walking and other stuff they could do with it. So yeah, Remnants: Powerful but limited, Pokémon World: All-rounders with various uses.**

 **Also, who** _ **didn't**_ **expect Sapphire's partner to be a Lucario? Shame on you. He's an Aura Guardian, that's like, a rule. Or something.**

 **So Yeah. Next chapter September 8th.**


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon

**Heyo, back again. Sorry it took a while, SATs, Application deadlines, High school, blah blah blah. And for some reason, this chapter didn't sound right to me, no matter how many times I rewrote it. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 3: Welcome to Beacon

* * *

Sapphire awoke with a sense of clear-headedness, which was incredibly welcome after the portal event and the ensuing fights against the wolves and two girls. Doing anything with an increasingly powerful headache was horrible, let alone surviving in the wilderness, or fighting.

The first thing he did when he woke up was try and gauge where he was. The surface he was laying on was soft, without the hardness beneath that would indicate a bedroll on the ground, and the blanket covering his body indicated he was in an actual bed. There was the standard beeping of a heart monitor, which made it click that he was in a hospital room.

He then activated his aura vision, but he made sure his eyes wouldn't glow bright enough to be seen through his eyelids. He saw several auras in the room, with three that he immediately recognized. The silver one was Noct, the burgundy one was Willow, and the yellow one was Anthony. He was sure it was them, because even if it were different people with the same aura colors, this world's people had much larger, wilder auras.

The only other aura he didn't recognize was a green one. And it was… strange. 'It seems I'll be using strange to describe many things in this place,' Sapphire mused to himself. The aura was restrained, so much so that he could mistake it for an aura from home at a glance, but he noted that if the aura wasn't restrained it could probably encompass a large part of wherever they were. It rippled with power, wisdom, and age, and even without being able to feel and see auras Sapphire would have felt intimidated and nervous, was it not, again, restrained. He could also tell that he was trustworthy, and that was good, making an enemy of this person would be bad.

This all passed within a second, and Sapphire immediately sat up, opening his eyes as their blue glow faded. He was right in that he was in a hospital, he could see several other hospital beds and several machines that he assumed helped with… helping patients? He wasn't the doctor here, he'd probably ask Anthony later if he still cared. Speaking of, his three companions had been sitting by his bedside and sprung to their feet when he sat up beginning to fuss over him.

"Sapphire, you're awake!" The most excited was Anthony, pulling him into a hug. "Thank Arceus! I mean, I knew you were alright, your vitals were fine, but still! It's great to see you up!" Sapphire just sighed and gave him a quick hug before pushing him away. He only thought of him as an acquaintance and companion on the road, but he knew that Anthony considered him a friend and while he wasn't really comfortable with hugs, he was clearly worried about him. He would allow it. Just that once.

"Finally, didn't know they taught you superhero's to sleep in like that!" Noct on the other hand… Sapphire quickly flipped him off as the darkly clothed trainer stood there with his arms crossed, laughing, before he was glomped next by Willow.

"Thank the legends you're okay! We were so worried about you when those two girls carried you to us, you were coughing blood and had an awful fever!" Sapphire wasn't sure how to take Willow's hug, as he only knew her for a few hours by this point, but she was clearly very worried for his health so he just awkwardly pat her back, until she let go.

"Eh, speak for yourself, I knew he was fine!"

Willow spun and pointed at Noct, a disappointed frown on her face. "You were the one that panicked the most Noct, you even carried him off the Bullhead and all the way here!"

Noct laughed, holding his hands up. "Nah, just didn't want to stand out as the only one of us not panicking!" He turned to Sapphire, the grin slightly fading. "But seriously, you're okay now right? No joking, I was pretty damn worried there, Sasuke. I mean, Ant did say you'll be okay now, but just want to make sure you know?"

Sapphire sighed and nodded. He tried to talk, but coughed, only now noticing how dry his throat was. Anthony handed him a glass of water from the bedside table, and he nodded in thanks before downing the thing. "...I'm fine now, yes. I don't know what was wrong before, but I'm feeling much better now. And if you were really worried, stop calling me Sasuke. It's dumb as a joke, and a nickname. In fact, don't give me a nickname at all."

"Good to know." Noct's grin came back full force, his eyes alighting with mischief. "I've never done this before, but I'm hereby stripping you of your nickname, Sasuke. But I will give you a nickname, one you shall hate, and one which will make me laugh as you glare at me in hatred!" Sapphire breathed in and let it out, feeling a vein form from Noct's... grating personality.

"Whatever." He turned to Anthony, "So was there any reason for me fainting?"

"Well, you were beaten up pretty badly by those two girls-"

"Besides that, I've taken worse beatings."

"...They said that they punched you straight through their airships metal hull."

Sapphire gave him a look. "Right, I guess I have watched you spar with your Lucario, who has metal bones. Why couldn't you have taken worse beatings than crashing through an airship?" Anthony rolled his eyes. "Well, other than that, we think it was the poison in the portal that we traveled through that caused you to get so sick. I mean, if you used a pokémon to get us out you would have taken off the suit to get them, meaning you exposed yourself."

"Right." He nodded, and after making sure that no one would hug him anymore, Sapphire finally turned to the strange green aura he had seen through his eyelids. What surprised him was that there was just a wall there, meaning whoever's aura it was, was actually on the other side. If he could sense the man's restrained aura through a wall, that was just more of a testament to how strong it actually was.

A door suddenly opened, and the man walked in, smiling. The first thing he noticed was the man didn't look as old as his aura looked, sure he had the silver hair, but physically he looked like a middle-aged man. He had brown eyes covered by shaded glasses and had a pale white complexion. He wore an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt, with long, dark green pants and silver cane held in his hands. He walked towards the hospital bed, holding out one of his hands to shake. "I see you're finally awake, then. I'm Professor Ozpin, the headmaster of beacon academy, where you currently are." Sapphire shook his hand, idly musing he didn't seem to have any impairment. "Your friends have told me quite a few fantastic stories, so I wanted to talk with you when you awoke."

Sapphire turned to the others, all of which except Noct had sheepish expressions. "Before I become disappointed, what DID you tell him?"

"We… may have explained a bit about the earth. Like the pokémon thing. And then, you know, whole other planet thing."

Sapphire's eye twitched, "So, In the… how long was I out?"

"Seven hours."

"In the seven hours I was out, you've already told someone we're from a different world that has magical creatures that can control the elements."

Noct held up a finger. "Hold on, what if we explained because people _saw_ some of our pokémon?"

"Well was that what happened?"

"Nah, Ant and Green returned their pokémon before they were found, and Hydreigon took care off the big birdie quick enough that I could return him before everyone met up in the clearing."

"Exactly." Sapphire lay back and looked at Ozpin. So, what do you want to know then?"

"You're upset at them for revealing your origins, but will still explain what I want to know?"

"If they've already revealed that, then there's not much else we'd need to hide. And I can sense you're trustworthy, I guess."

Ozpin nodded, folding his hands on his cane handle. "While they did tell me about your world, and pokémon I believe you call them, they did not go into detail. They were too worried about your health."

"Alright, I'll explain more, but not too much. We don't know jack about your world either."

"Fair enough."

Sapphire reached down beneath the blankets, before realizing his he wasn't wearing his outfit, just a standard white hospital gown, and thus didn't have his pokéballs. "...Guys, Where's my outfit and pokémon?"

"Oh, the blonde and redhead you fought wanted to apologize for fighting you, so both their teams repaired and washed our clothes, they're just taking a bit longer with yours since yours are so complex."

"So they have my pokémon. And what are basically enchanted clothes."

"Well, It's not like they'll find out any of your suits magic powers by washing it right? And your pokéballs are on… on your clothes…"

* * *

"Hey, hey, check it out!" Teams RWBY and JPR turned to see Nora juggling five red and white balls and a pure white ball. "I found them on his necklace and belt! They look really fancy!"

"Nora put those away!" Jaune looked up from sapphire's pouch, preparing to wash the inside. "Those could be expensive, or dangerous!" He opened the top of the pouch, reaching inside to wash it. And kept reaching. Then some more. The washroom became pretty silent by the time Jaune was elbow deep inside the pouch that was a maybe a few inches wide, and a foot deep. "Um, I'm not the only one seeing this right?"

Before anyone could answer, Nora accidentally dropped the balls, each one clinking along the floor, except one red and white ball, which clicked open, a white flash brightening the room.

* * *

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"I hate you." Sapphire scowled and turned back to Ozpin. "Okay, we'll worry about that later. Whoever has the smallest pokémon here, let them out. Although that'll probably Anthony."

"Why's that?" In response, Anthony sent out two tiny mouse-like pokémon which jumped onto his shoulders. On his right shoulder was an eight-inch tall cream colored pokémon, with red paws, ears, and plus symbol on the end of its tail, as well as red circles on its cheeks with plus signs inside. On his left shoulder was the exact same pokémon, except all the red, was replaced with blue, and the plus signs were replaced with minus signs. "Ah. yeah, my smallest pokemon is probably as tall as my knee."

"Say hello Plusle, Minun!"

 _"Howdy!"_

 _"Hiya!"_

Ozpin looked at the pokémon with an interested expression on his face. "Intriguing creatures. But why do they talk using their names?"

Anthony looked confused for a second until remembering that while he and the others could now understand pokémon, others couldn't. "Well, while pokémon are intelligent and sentient creatures that can think for themselves, Most can only talk with their names. Well, we name a pokémon species by the words they speak, such as the Pikachu species being named such, as they use pi, ka, and chu and some small variants when talking. Some pokémon have the ability to talk to people such as pokémon that can use telepathy, or pokémon that have an affinity for Aura."

He reached up and pet Plusle and Minun on their heads as he kept talking. "Trainers who bond with their pokémon will eventually be able to understand their pokémon, even if they don't speak the same language just by their friendship. But uh, I think Sapphire did something to us to allow us to understand our pokémon, I think."

Sapphire nodded, taking over the conversation. "I'll get to that in a second. Now that you've seen a pokémon, I guess I'll explain a bit more about home. Most people can go their lives without really interacting with pokémon, except maybe as a pet, or seeing battles on television." He gestured to Willow and Noct as he kept talking.

"However, some people become trainers, who travel the world capturing pokémon, training them and battling gyms, which are like challenges to gauge their strength, and pokémon leagues, where the best trainers come together to battle and be named champion. The champion would fight the elite four, four of the best trainers in a region, and if they can beat them, they fight the champion of the region, who is even stronger than the elite four and the best of the best."

"You say trainers capture pokémon and use them to battle, even though they are sentient creatures?"

"Don't worry, some trainers will ask pokémon if they want to join them on their journeys, and those that don't will battle the pokémon they capture, gaining their respect and eventually forming friendships. Anyone found to be abusing pokémon are arrested, and pokémon used in battles enjoy fighting, so pokémon battles, gym battles, and pokémon leagues are as much a sport as boxing or wrestling."

"Hm. That makes me feel better at least."

"Right." Next, he gestured to Anthony. "Then there are the pokémon doctors, which are pretty much what the name says. They're usually more skilled at helping and healing pokemon than they are people, but Anthony is apparently an exception, which I guess is good for us." Anthony rubbed the back of his head grinning.

"Finally, me. I'm an Aura Guardian, which is… much rarer than being a trainer, or doctor, or whatever. While some people can learn some aura techniques, you generally have to be born with natural aura abilities to become a guardian, and even then you need to learn from masters."

"And how many Aura Guardians are there in your world then?"

"Counting me? Four. With me here now? Three. There was me, my dad, a cousin of mine, and a man named Riley that I also learned from who lived pretty isolated. As I said, you have to be born with the ability, and my family was really one of the only families that kept track through the ages. We made sure to write books with our techniques and practices for when there wouldn't be any people with the gift for a few generations, and new guardians couldn't learn from a previous master.

"I learned from my father, as did my cousin. We had a small rivalry going, a friendly one of course. I left the village when I was twelve, traveled to Iron island to learn from Riley, varied training is always useful and he learned how to be a guardian different from my family since, of course, he wasn't part of the family. Eventually, I started traveling the world when my training was complete, capturing a few pokémon here and there, and mostly protecting people and pokémon. It's my job as Aura Guardian after all. I met Anthony in Kanto, there was some trouble there that he couldn't handle on his own, so I helped him out."

"Yeah! And to thank him, I decided to keep traveling with him through Kanto and Johto in case he ever needed a doctor!" Sapphire's deadpan face showed what he thought of the idea, as Anthony spoke up.

"Anyway, long story short on how we got here, laboratory invited us over to witness teleportation experiment, goes wrong, we get sucked up, and I used one of my pokémon to blast our way out. From what Anthony said, It's why I got so sick. It makes sense too, even though I used my aura to protect them from the radiation, they still had their suits on, even with the small cracks and rips. Even with my large amount of aura, because I removed the suit entirely I was completely exposed."

"It's for that same reason that they can now understand their pokémon, as I mixed my own aura with theirs, awakening their own inexperienced auras, and giving them some of my own abilities. They already can understand their pokémon, something that took me a couple weeks, so who knows what they'll get."

"I see. It seems you Aura Guardians would be your world's version of Huntsman And Huntresses, except much rarer. Our world is mostly controlled by the creatures of Grimm, nightmarish creatures that are attracted to negativity, and control most of the planet. There are four strongholds of humanity, One of which Beacon looks over, the city of Vale."

"There are of course small towns outside the cities, but they can fall to the Grimm if they are established too far from the cities, where there aren't natural defenses, or the hunters can't get to the town in time. In every city, there is a Huntsman Academy, where Huntsman and Huntresses are trained. Hunters use their aura and weapons to battle the creatures of Grimm and protect humanity. Our worlds aura seems to be different from yours, however, as instead of multiple techniques and abilities, the main abilities Hunters have are their aura acting as a shield around their body, enhanced healing, strength, and agility, and a semblance.

"Semblances are abilities that are unique to everyone, for example, Miss Xiao Long, the blonde girl you fought, has a semblance that makes it so everytime she is hit, she is able to hit back even harder, so by the end of the fight she several times more powerful. The Deputy Headmistress has a telekinesis semblance, and another student has a speed semblance, making her seem to teleport short distances, and for long distance uses seem like she is a blur."

"Damn that sounds awesome!" Noct crossed his arms, grinning. "Wonder what mine would be?"

"Doesn't matter anyway, we aren't from here, we wouldn't be able to gain semblances."

"Let a man dream, Sapphire. Let a man dream."

"Anyway, how did Humanity survive before the cities were made then?"

"Humanity and the Faunus, actually."

"Faunus?"

"Hmm… Faunus are essentially humans with animal traits, usually only one. Such as a tail, or claws, or perhaps ears. One of my student's, for example, has rabbit ears. This comes with upsides as enhanced hearing, some Faunus have night vision because of their trait, some have hidden weapons in the forms of their claws or an extra limb in the form of tails."

"Whoa, awesome!"

Ozpin smiled before it turned melancholy. "Indeed. Unfortunately, It does come with downsides."

Sapphire frowned. "Let me guess. Racism."

"Indeed. Not all, but some humans see the Faunus as beneath them. Humanity tried placing all of Faunus kind on the island of Menagerie, but rebelling against this idea, rightly so, Faunus began the Faunus Rights Revolution, so while most Faunus are on Menagerie, there are many within the four cities. But despite the material gains, they are still discriminated against, so the White Fang was created, hoping to be a symbol of peace and unity between Faunus and Humans, but when the previous leader stepped down, a more… violent one stepped up.

"Of course," Ozpin continued, "You could learn more details about this and the current events in any of our classes, or history books in many libraries. What allowed us to survive before the cities was Dust, with an uppercase 'D'. Nature's Wrath, by pulsing aura through Dust crystals or the powdered version, we can use the very elements, fire, air, lightning, et cetera."

"So by using your auras," Noct pointed his hand forward, "and a couple of crystals and powders, you can basically use pokémon moves? That's sweet!"

Ozpin chuckled. "Indeed. So, now that we've shared information about each other's worlds, what do you plan to do now? If you have a pokémon that allowed you to escape the teleportation experiment, why don't you use it to go home?"

"It's complicated, but basically we need them to open a portal to us, we can't open a portal to them."

"I see. Well, with most of the planet covered by Grimm you could try surviving in the cities, find a job there. Or, of course, there is another option."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow and looked at Willow, Noct, and Anthony who had excited looks on their faces and then to Ozpin who had a slight smirk on his face. "Ohh no. No no no no. We are not joining a combat school."

"Come on! You already know how to fight, it'll be fun!"

"Yeah, we'll learn how to fight monsters, and then afterward, fight the monsters! I have a responsibility to get you all home safe, I am not letting you three die in battle!"

"Ah, we'll be fine! We have our pokémon!"

"You are insufferable, and I hate you. We can't always rely on our pokémon, what if we are in a situation where we don't have them?"

"Then I guess we should probably learn how to fight, huh?"

Sapphire gave a growl, before sighing. He turned to Ozpin who watched the conversation with a bemused expression. "If we join your academy I have a couple things I need to ask of you. Firstly, that Noct, Willow, and Anthony will be safe and protected if I'm not in the vicinity,"

"We can handle ourselves fine, thank you!"

"And that In whatever combat classes we'll be required to be in, they can opt out of any of that training."

"Those are both fair things to ask, and I accept. After all, without aura, a punch from any of our weakest students could most likely break a bone. I already know some students that can keep an eye on your friends while you aren't around, being-" The door suddenly banged open, everyone turning to it just as a small dark form sprinted through the door, and jumped into Sapphire's lap. It looked like a tiny fox, about a foot tall with dark grey fur, with a darker scarf around its neck, with cool blue paws and tuft of hair on its head, as well as eyelids and small ovals over its aquamarine eyes.

 _"Sapphire! HIDE ME!"_ Sapphire almost asked what happened, before realizing what his pokémon being out of its pokéball meant. He then sighed as eight people at once tried to burst through the doorway of the room. One of them had his Aura Guardian raiments, but the rest all had some form of weapons in their hands.

Several of them were yelling, all of the yells condescending into, "Look out! Tiny Grimm!"

Sapphire let his head fall back, thudding it against the wall. "I hate my life."

* * *

"She's so adorable!" After the four trainers had explained about the pokémon and their home, again, the eight Huntsman had apologized for trying to kill the small fox pokémon.

Then the white-haired girl, the girl whose hair looked like a mix of blood red and black, and the blonde, 'Weiss, Ruby, and Yang,' Sapphire reminded himself, had begun fawning over the small fox.

When the fawning had begun, Sapphire rolled his eyes and entered the bathroom, changing into his gear. He exited, to see Zorua looking quite panicked as she was passed around. He quickly pulled out her pokéball and returned her. "Aww…"

"She was beginning to panic. A part of understanding pokémon without actually understanding their words is understanding their expressions." He placed the ball back on his belt. "So great, now nine people know about our origins. Amazing."

"Actually," He wasn't sure if Ozpin's smile was sheepish or bemused. He hated it either way. "I'll probably have to tell Glynda about this. If she finds out about this without me telling her I'll probably have double the paperwork soon."

"Okay. Ten people."

"Well, and since the Council of Vale Usually asks for the camera footage we have of the surrounding areas to track Grimm migrations, they'll see your portal and pokémon fly through."

"I will break something soon. Shut up."

Noct snickered, even while he shuffled to the side. "Well guess there's no point to hiding our existence, eh?"

Sapphire was twitching dangerously, the tips of his fingers alighting with his blue aura. He then forced himself to breathe in and out, before sitting down on the bed. "Okay. Fine. We won't walk around with our pokémon out of their pokéballs, but if something does come up, I won't be mad at you for using your pokémon if necessary. But lets at least try to hide our existence for a while?"

"Alright, I guess that's fair enough."

"Well, now that that is sorted out, Let's go to my office I'll have to talk with Glynda and enroll you here."

* * *

Sapphire lay back against the side of Ozpin's tower, feeling the sun against his skin. Ozpin had the two teams and the trainers wait outside, as the elevator would have been too full with everyone inside. Sapphire didn't really care. In the end, the outcome would be the same anyway, the headmaster would enroll them, and come down to tell them.

"Uh oh." Sapphire groaned, not wanting to deal with whatever had made the blonde boy 'Jaune?' say the stereotypical 'Uh oh.'

The sun was then blocked from his face, and he sighed, opening his eyes. What the hell did he have to deal with now? In front of them was… God dammit it was the stereotypical bully squad. Of course, the head bully was standing over him, hands crossed over his armor. "Well well, what do we have here? Looks like the loser squad has gained four new members! What, did you get in trouble with Ozpin, then drag your pals into it for sucking so much at combat?"

Sapphire looked back to the teams of Hunters in training, to gauge their reactions to the team in front of them. Jaune was nervous, having stepped back, not very subtly mind you, behind his team. The rest of NPR had irritated expressions on their faces, except for Ren, he still had a calm expression on his face. For RWBY, Most of the team was irritated, Blake had a calmer expression, yet still looked annoyed, and Ruby was more concerned, looking between the team of bullies and the trainers. It seemed that the two teams already knew the bullies then.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Sapphire sighed. It seemed the leader was talking while Sapphire ignored him.

Sapphire stood up, standing chest to chest with the unnamed bully. He had to look up a bit, as the boy was several inches taller than him. "What do you want?"

The boy frowned, as Sapphire sounded more bored than anything. Not a hint of fear or hesitation. "Be careful how you talk to me punk, or I might have to show you your place!" Sapphire just sighed and raised an eyebrow. He scowled, before pausing. "Wait, I don't think I've seen you around here… you aren't a student, are you?"

Sapphire, immediately began thinking. No matter what he said, this kid was one of the asshole types that would try to pick a fight with him. So why not go with the truth, it was easier than thinking up a lie. "No. Not yet at least. Ozpin is registering us upstairs right now."

"Ha! Scrawny kids like you?" Sapphire snorted at that. He wasn't buff, but he did have muscle, as did Noct. Willow and Anthony? Maybe. But Anthony was a doctor, he didn't travel or work out much, and Willow still had a bit of muscle. This guy was just fishing for insults. "No way is he doing that! C'mon guys, let's teach this guy a lesson about lying to us!"

"Hey, back off Cardin, or you'll have to deal with us too." Yang walked forward, cracking her knuckles until Sapphire held up a hand. If they didn't deal with bullies right away and by themselves, they would just keep bothering them.

His henchman began walking up, and taking out their weapons while Sapphire spread his feet and cracked his neck. Well, seemed he would-

"Now now, mess with Blue, you mess with me. Too. Crap should have said me too, that would have rhymed!" Sapphire felt his eye twitch as Noct stepped up next to him. He was pretty sure dealing with these trainers and this new world was making him develop an eye twitch. "And besides, even if I'm sure he could take you, One on four still isn't very fair ain't it?"

"Noct, shut up, go back."

"What, you want to fight too? You won't have any better of a chance!"

"Yeah, but with us, it'll be even fairer!" Willow stepped up, along with Anthony. "Don't worry, we've got this." He looked back to see her motioning the two teams back, preventing them from interfering.

"None of you can fight," Sapphire hissed, leaning towards Noct.

Noct grinned and held up a pokéball.

"...NO. Not this soon."

"C'mon, we've got to establish ourselves as awesome fighters!"

"We literally said we would try to not use our pokémon for as long as possible. I... I just... Why are you the way you are?"

The sound of doors opening caused the trainers and Hunstman-in-training turned, to see a blonde woman in a mainly white and black uniform, with a purple cape and ovular glasses. "Ozpin has convinced me, somehow, to allow you to attend Beacon." Ozpin, exiting his tower in the background, lifted a coffee mug in acknowledgment. "However, our academy has an initiation ceremony, but since we don't have backup initiations planned, you will need to prove yourselves in other ways. I've agreed to-"

Noct raised his hand. "Can I kick their butts to be let in?"

She glared at him, causing him to flinch back, with his grin slightly fading. "I would have said it in a more formal way, but yes. I also request you use your 'pokémon.'"

"Why?" She turned the glare to Sapphire, who glared back.

"So that we may evaluate them, and see if they are a danger to the academy, and our students."

"Everything can be dangerous, it just depends on who uses said item or commands said person."

"Perhaps. In any case, choose which one of your... pokémon you will use. Team CRDL, you shall prepare as well." She stepped back and began tapping on her pad.

"Alright," Sapphire said, catching the attention of his fellow trainers. "What's your most powerful pokémon, and do you two specialize in any specific pokémon types? We need to coordinate."

Noct held up a hand, grinning. "Now hold on a moment... I have an idea on how we can _really_ impress these Hunstman..."

* * *

Noct grinned as he tossed his pokéball up and down, having decided on which pokémon he would use. "Mr. Umbra, why are your teammates not joining you?"

"Why do ya think?" He caught the ball, pointing it forward. "If just one of us could beat a four-person team, that'd just be that much more impressive wouldn't it?" Sapphire grumbled from the sidelines, unsure as to how Noct had even convinced him to go along with this.

The professor just sighed, tapping on her pad. "Alright. The match will be called either when Team CRDL's Aura is in the red, or your pokémon is unconscious." Noct nodded and tossed the ball upwards, his grin widening in excitement.

"Alright Absol, time to party!" The ball snapped open, brightening the area with a white light as the dog like pokémon was released. It had white fur all over its body, with violet tipped claws, tail, scythe-shaped horn, and face. On said canine face, bright red eyes glared at Team CRDL, who was looking back in wonder. "Ready for this girl?"

Absol tossed her head, stretching. _"Of course. They don't look like a threat at all. I've seen weedle that were more terrifying."_ Noct chuckled in response, still amazed at understanding his pokémon, while flashing a thumbs up at Professor Goodwitch.

"Three."

CRDL readied themselves.

"Two."

Absol's horn began glowing black.

"One."

Anthony and Willow cheered for Noct and Absol.

"Begin." Absol shot forwards, swinging her horn like a sword, clashing the darkness empowered weapon into the sword-wielding boy's blade. He stumbled back at the impact and prepared to counter, before Absol spun on the spot and brought her tail around to attack as well, the tail turning grey as she used Iron Tail. The boy was thrown backward from the attack and coughed as the air left his lungs, tumbling across the ground. Absol then lazily dodged the boy wielding twin daggers, sensing his clumsy approach easily.

"Stay still!" Absol rolled her eyes in response, pondering why people yelled that out when fighting. It wasn't like their opponent would just _stop_ and let them hit them just because their opponent told them to! She perked up as her danger senses started blaring, telling her of something coming in from behind. She smirked to herself, preparing to dodge. It was good that they were working together, maybe they could make this fun for her!

Absol used Bounce, jumping high over the large mace that swung around and smashed the dagger boy aside, smirking at the boy holding said mace. He roared and swung again, ignoring how his teammate was now groaning on the ground, trying to smash the dark type pokémon into a pulp. Absol frowned at how the boy ignored his teammate's pain, and how he didn't even try to help him up. On Noct's team, you either work together, or you don't fight at all. Didn't matter how powerful or dangerous a pokemon you were.

 _"Not so fast."_ Absol used Me First, spinning around and smashing her tail into mace boy, the Me First transforming into a Pound attack. The boy grunted but didn't go down, grabbing Absol by the tail and yelling as he tossed her towards the kid with the halberd. She twisted in midair, clamping down on the weapon with Bite. The boy yelped, trying to shake the disaster pokémon off his weapon. Absol did not appreciate this and responded by using Megahorn and stabbing the boy in the chest. Luckily, his aura prevented him from actually getting stabbed, but it was powerful enough that his aura immediately dropped into the red.

"Ha, nice! A critical hit!" Absol grinned, the fight wasn't much so far, but as long as they could keep going for a few more minutes, she might be able to get her adrenaline going! Mace boy swung at her again, an overhead swing this time, and she ducked between his legs, sweeping with her tail to imitate a Low Sweep. Or perhaps Low Lick? Either way, the boy's stance crumbled as he fell, letting Absol use Stomp on his face.

She suddenly jumped back as her senses went off again, and dodged a sword thrust from the sword boy. He growled when he saw that he had missed, before leaning down to offer a hand to his leader. Absol snorted and whipped her tail to the side. At least _this_ one attempted to help his teammates. although apparently, it wasn't very appreciated when the mace boy knocked his hand aside and tried to get up by himself. The dagger boy that she thought the mace boy had knocked out limped over, wheezing slightly. "So, hah, what's the plan to deal with the mutt?"

Mutt!? How dare they! She was the pinnacle of Perfection, able to sense danger hours before it appeared, with elegance in how she battled, and a variety of moves with which to dismantle her opponents, she-

"Absol, I know you're probably going on one of your rants, but just use Shadow Ball or something on the guy." Absol 'humphed', charging up a Shadow Ball. That was most certainly _not_ a rant... she blasted the dagger wielder with the Shadow Ball and sent him flying back, with his aura dropping into the red. "Nice shot!"

"Grah! Just knock the thing out already!" The leader charged forward and swung his mace, only this time the top opened up, revealing several crystals, all of them colored different. There was a hiss, and the head of the mace suddenly changed to a bright red, and in Absol's experience that usually meant fire type. SHe quickly charged her horn with an Ice Beam and jumped back, and when the mace slammed into the ground and unleashed an eruption of flames, she fired it forward to counter them. the flames and ice met and exploded into steam blocking the boy's view, but not Absol's, as she jumped through and used Shadow Claw to send him skidding back.

The halberd wielder charged forward attempting to skewer her, but she deflected it with a turn of her head, before spinning and slamming a momentum-fueled Iron Tail into the boy's stomach. He coughed up some spit and flew back, before attempting to slow himself down by digging his heels into the ground and quickly fell over. He looked up to see if Absol was charging him but couldn't find her anywhere, before looking up and seeing her high in the air from using Bounce and coming down with a spinning Iron Tail.

He slammed into the ground with his aura in the red, and unconscious. Absol tossed her head, before looking off to the side at where the team's aura meters were, and saw that only the boy with the mace still had his aura out of the red. She lifted an eyebrow, impressed that he had taken so much punishment, and lightly sidestepped when he tried to attack her from behind, slamming his light blue mace down, and transforming much of the ground into spiky pillars of ice.

Absol touched down onto the ground, slipping slightly on the ice before gaining traction by extending her claws. She then bound forward at a ridiculous speed, her form blurring as she used Aerial Ace. She slammed into the boy's side throwing him back, before turning in an instant and slamming into his other side, before jumping up and slamming her tail into the boy's head. He roared and tried to spin his mace into her, which she blocked by using Protect. She was thrown back unharmed and let the bubble drop, shaking her head.

Her opponent narrowed his eyes and charged at her, his mace shifting to a dark brown, as Absol readied herself for a final attack. "Hey Absol, finish it off with a bang! Giga Slash!" Absol grinned and lowered her stance, energy flowing around her as she powered her horn with a Night Slash and her body with Giga Impact. She then blasted forwards, slamming into the boy with a mixed aura of midnight black and light grey. He was thrown back, tumbling end over end as he slid through the dirt and concrete.

Absol slid to a stop next to him, out of breath. "Whoo! Nice job Absol!" Absol tossed her head, sitting on her hindquarters.

 _"Of course it was nice. I was the one fighting."_

"Ha! Alright, return!" Absol was sucked back inside her pokéball, and Noct spun it on his finger, before placing it back on his belt.

"Wow, that was incredible! I mean there wasn't much since CRDL is really bad at fighting, they just like to pose a lot, but the way your pokémon charged in and took Dove with, like, onlyafewhitsbeforetotallywreckingtherestoftheirteamlikenothing-!" Sapphire quickly stopped the flood of words coming out of Ruby's mouth by placing his hand over it.

"You talk too fast."

"Many of us feel that way. And I'm sure Miss Rose will have plenty of opportunities to see your… Pokémon in battle." Sapphire, Ruby, and the others turned, to see Miss Goodwitch walking up with four small steel rectangles, with yellow diamonds in the center. "These are your scrolls, use them for communication, to find your way around the Academy, and to look up the history of Remnant."

"So I suppose that means we're in?"

"Indeed. Although I would like to gauge the rest of your... team's battle skills, as well as their hand-to-hand combat in the future. For now, I suggest you find your dorm before all the students watching descend on you to find out what just happened."

As she walked away, Sapphire jolted and turned around to find a large number of students that weren't there before the battle, watching them all. "How? Where did they all come from?!"

Yang raised a hand, grinning. "I may or may not have sent out a message that there was going to be a battle out by Oz's tower."

Sapphire gave her a blank look before Noct threw a hand over his shoulder. "Ah, come on, it's not that bad!"

"You know what? You're right. It isn't that bad." He smirked and grabbed Noct's wrist, twisting it as he lifted his hand off his shoulder. "I'll see you at our dorm."

"Wait, where are you going? Don't leave me to answer all these questions alone!" Sapphire waved a hand over his shoulder, Anthony and Willow and teams RWBY and JNPR following as they didn't want to get crushed in the mass of students converging on Noct. "No! NO! BACK DEMONS!"


	4. Chapter 4: My Huntsman Academia

**Chapter, Start.**

Chapter 4: My Huntsman Academia

* * *

Sapphire hummed as he flicked through the thick book in front of him. "We already encountered those…" He turned and began writing in a small journal, his neat handwriting filling the page. "'Beowolves are some of the weakest known Creatures of Grimm, however in packs, they can overwhelm even a skilled huntsman.'"

He then began filling in the margins with things he had noticed during the nighttime battle. "Aura based attacks were very effective against them, possibly from the fact that they were soulless. Then again, it might just be from the fact that they are some of the weaker types of Grimm. Do not assume aura attacks will be super effective against other Grimm."

He then turned back to the book, scanning it and writing down the weaknesses that it listed, before turning the page. On it was several humanoid Grimm, however, they were thin and sickly looking, with disproportionate limbs, their long arms and claws reaching down to their knees, and skull-like faces crying out in horror.

"'The Apathy, while they look weak and frail, they are some of the most dangerous Grimm with the ability to drain the will to live from you. Besides that, they are stronger than they look, and their claws can puncture and cut through flesh easily. Kill them quickly, and if you encounter a pack, run, and don't look back.' Interesting. I wonder if it is a chemical process, or they actually affect your soul? Either way, it's too dangerous to experiment with."

"So why are you looking at pictures of the lovechild between Slenderman and some Redeads?" Sapphire raised an eyebrow at that description and turned to see Noct leaning over his shoulder, rubbing his chin. "I mean seriously, they look like Slenderman got out his tentacles and had a grand old time, all night long."

"That's disgusting." He turned away from the trainer and began writing down any listed weaknesses. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at our dorm?"

"Well, I was, but you weren't there, and Anthony said you went straight to the library, not the dorm."

"It's not like I need to put my stuff away. Everything I carry is in my bag, and I always carry my staff with me. Now if you're here for me, then what do you need? I need to write down and memorize all of the different types of Grimm so we know what to expect in future fights."

Noct eyed the book he was reading from and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, that's a pretty big book. You sure you can do that?"

Sapphire rolled his eyes and turned the page. "Why do you think I'm putting notes into my journal? I'm writing down the basic info and tips on how to take care of them, plus their abilities. I should be done by sunset at least."

"Yeah, because that sounds like a fun way to spend your day." Noct pulled out a chair and sat down, leaning back and placing his feet on the table. "So… reason I'm here, I guess, is to talk."

"Talk."

"Yeah, talk. What's wrong with that?"

"The fact that we don't know each other for one. Two, I'm doing important work."

"Yeah, important work that isn't that important right now. Shouldn't you get to know your new teammates and stuff?"

Sapphire sighed and closed the book. "Look, if you don't want to die next time we're out there, out in the wild, and you want to get home safe, I'd say learning the abilities of these monsters is a bit more important than making friends."

"So you really think we can get back to earth?"

Sapphire turned to him, an eyebrow raised. "You don't?"

Noct sighed, letting his head fall back. "I'm not really a pessimist, but in this situation? I don't know. There's just so many things that could go wrong, if Kukui makes a portal to us it might explode again, or it won't find us, or hell, we get trapped on another planet, only that one without water or air."

Noct opened his eyes and looked at Sapphire, his gaze not judging or frustrated, but curious. "Tell me, do you think everyone back at the lab thinks we're alive?"

Sapphire opened his mouth, before closing it.

"Exactly. They have no reason to believe we survived. They can only move on, mourn us. Not risk more lives for the chance to rescue us."

"So what, you want to give up? Just accept that we'd be stuck here, forever?"

"I wouldn't say give up. I'd call it adapting, living the best we can. Don't give up hope for rescue, but actually live in the meantime. Why do you think I insisted on using a pokémon to battle those asses? If we're going to be here for a while, better to get all of that out of the way quickly, rather than hide it and then be mistrusted when people find out."

Sapphire sighed and leaned back. Rubbing his eyes. "…I don't know. I've found that by being skeptical of everything, I get out of bad situations easier, or just don't get into bad situations at all."

"And by being friendly, you have more allies that would help you out of a bad situation, all you have to do is ask them."

Sapphire stayed silent, thinking. Noct watched him, before nodding and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Well, either way, I think I'm going to head back to the dorm and see if we can find some way to hook up our pokédex's to our scrolls. I'll see you later."

Sapphire turned to watch him go, before looking back at his journal, absentmindedly rapping its cover with his pencil. "Yeah. See you."

* * *

"…so then the surface of the lake suddenly explodes open, and out comes this huge gold and black dragon pokémon, and it's roaring up a storm! It quickly turns to us and begins charging up an attack, and I blandly turn to Hydreigon and go, 'and this is why you bring donuts.'" The table quickly burst into laughter, except for Ren and Blake who just smiled into their drinks, and Weiss who sighed at the immaturity.

"What happened next?" Yang asked excitedly, leaning over the table.

"What do you think? I started chucking donuts at Giratina, hoping the treats would help it calm down!" Their laughter redoubled at the thought of Noct and his pokémon panicking as they threw donuts at a large godlike creature.

"I still don't believe you have physical Gods that reside in your world, Gods are used in mythology to give a reason for existence before you discover science!"

"Well remember Weiss, while there are a lot of people that think of Legendaries as Gods, there are other religions. After all, the legends that Arceus created Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina who then created space, time, and antimatter may just be legends, or they may be true! It's not like many people will ever meet them! And those who do, like me, are probably going to be too awestruck to ask them anything!"

"Indeed," Anthony said. "And besides that, some legendaries are unable to translate themselves to human, so most people wouldn't even be able to understand them. Of course, that doesn't stop some people, like me, from believing in them as Gods, but everyone is different and will believe different things."

Noct nodded, but before he could talk, spotted Sapphire getting food. "Yo, Sapph! Over here!" Sapphire looked over and spotted them, and seemed to pause and think for a moment before nodding and walking to an empty table. Noct frowned at this. He knew his conversation wouldn't change Sapphire's outlook immediately, or even in the next week or month, but he could have at least come over and stay with them, even if he didn't participate in the conversation.

"Well, he's certainly grumpy."

Noct nodded at Yang's words. "I tried to talk to him earlier, but I'm not sure how well I was able to get through to him."

"I'm sure he'll come around eventually. He seems to be very mistrusting of people. Give him time, and he'll learn to trust us." Ren spoke calmly and knowledgeably, as Nora attempted to braid his hair.

"Eh, maybe."

"I have an idea!" Yang grinned and threw her arm around her smaller sister. "Let's have Rubes offer to fix up his staff! I did damage it, and they can bond over his weapon!"

Anthony smiled. "That sounds like it could work. He doesn't show it and usually downplays it, but he does seem to care about his weapon a lot. If Ruby were to offer to fix it then I'm sure it would be an important step in getting him to open up."

"Sounds fun to me! I'd love to examine a weapon from another world!" Ruby was practically squealing at the thought. "What do you think, Jaune?"

"Hm?" Jaune looked up from his plate, startled. "Oh! Uh, I guess it sounds like a good idea."

"Jaune, are you alright?" Pyrrha looked over at him, concerned.

"What? Of course I'm alright!"

"Really? I mean, you seem kind of out of it blondie."

Jaune shook his head at Noct's words. "No, I'm great!" Jaune attempted to throw out a thumbs up, but his nervous laugh and his eyes sliding to the side and not meeting theirs gave it away.

They followed his gaze and saw the bullies from earlier at another table. Apparently, they had regained their bravado, since they were now bullying a Faunus girl with rabbit ears. Bunny ears? One of the two. Pyrrha turned back to Jaune, "Jaune, Cardin's been bullying you since the first week of school."

"So that was his name!" Noct leaned back and nodded, before turning to the Huntsman in training. "Why aren't the teachers doing anything about the bullying?"

"Probably because he's not bullying me, he's just… y'know, messing around!"

The others ignored him, answering Noct's question. "Since this is a combat school, some roughing around is expected, and we're also expected to be able to take care of ourselves."

"That's stupid."

"Guys, guys! C'mon name just a single time he's bullied me!"

"I don't think we would have to name them, Considering they probably just flashed through your mind right now," Weiss rolled her eyes, filing her nails.

"Hell, didn't they start that whole bullying debacle earlier by throwing a few verbal jabs at you?"

"No, no, that was just a joke!"

"Yeah, I always joke around with my pals by calling them the loser squad." Noct rolled his eyes as he gave his sarcastic response.

Jaune flinched and looked down, laughing nervously. Pyrrha sighed and touched his arm. "You know if you're having trouble you can always just ask us for help."

"OH!" Nora jumped up, a malicious grin on her face even as she accidentally pulled on Ren's newly braided hair making him let out a deadpan 'ow.' "We'll break his legs!"

"Doesn't that seem like going a bit far?" Willow asked, nervously chuckling as she scooted further away from the red-haired girl.

"Sounds good to me!" Noct laughed.

"Guys, really, don't worry about it!" Jaune began stacking his tray. "Besides, even if he was bullying me, it's not like it's only me! He's a jerk to everyone! I-if he did bully me…"

As if on cue, the girl from before cried out. "That hurts!" The table turned to see that Cardin now had one of the girl's Faunus ears in his hand, pulling on it. "Would you please stop…"

"Ha, told you they were real!"

One of the others on his team laughed right alongside him. "What a freak!"

"That's atrocious. I can't stand people like that." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, watching them.

"Then why not do something about it?" They turned to see that Sapphire was walking by to throw out his trash, and was watching alongside them. "Why not go up while their distracted and sweep their legs, or knock them unconscious, or slam their heads onto the table? What's stopping you?"

Pyrrha looked startled at his sudden appearance, before thinking about how to answer. "Ah… well,"

"Either way, it's not like I care."

Blake's eyes narrowed at him, her bow twitching imperceptibly. "And why is that?"

"It's not because I'm racist, or some bull like that. It's because she can obviously take care of herself, and if she's not doing anything there's a reason for it." Sapphire balanced his tray on his hand and pointed towards her figure. "At multiple points, she moved to knock him out, or just twist his arm, or escape his grasp, but stopped herself. I don't know why, but she is."

"So what, just because she can defend herself but isn't you won't defend her?"

"If I were to publicly humiliate them now, or in private later and prevent them from bullying her when I am around, they'll just double down on it when I'm not."

"So then what would you do?"

Sapphire sighed. "No idea. I just noticed the small tells that showed that she could fight back if she wanted, and know enough about bullies to know they would double down if I tried to stop them. I suppose just talking with her and asking her why she lets them get away with bullying her would be a good start."

Noct grinned. "Wow, with how much of an ass you are, I thought you wouldn't care about someone getting bullied."

"It's my job to help people. Not like them."

"Was that supposed to make me feel better, or worse?"

"That's what I said!"

* * *

"What are we doing here again?"

Ruby huffed as she cleared the workshop table. "We're here to repair your weapon of course!"

"I could have done this on my own you know."

"But a few extra helping hands are always useful!" Anthony grinned.

"Aren't you a doctor?"

"I dabble. 'Sides, I'm just going to watch anyway. The technology on Remnant is fascinating!"

"Well, whatever. So what do you need in return?"

"What? I don't need anything in return!"

"You have to be doing this for a reason. Do you need a favor or something?"

"Sapphire, you know people can do things just to be nice right?" Anthony chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Alright how about this," Ruby smiled and placed on her hips. "I'm doing this as an apology for Yang breaking your weapon!"

Sapphire thought for a moment before sighing. "Alright, fine. Anyway, my weapon is mostly wood. Why are we in a forge?" Sapphire looked around, eyebrow raised.

"Well, if you're going to be here for a while, I thought we could upgrade your weapon!" Ruby smiled jumping up and down, several different types of tools held in her hands. "So, what special things can your weapon do that we should transfer to the new one?"

"It's a staff."

"Yeah, and?"

"It's… a staff. I hit things with it. Occasionally trip things. Sometimes smack things."

"But…"

"What? You expected some kind of transforming ability?" Ruby nodded. "We don't have transforming weapons on earth."

"Oh…" Ruby looked slightly downtrodden, before perking up again. "Well, when we remake your weapon then we can add a whole bunch of things to it!"

"As long as you don't add a damn rocket launcher…" Sapphire sighed and rubbed his temples. "So what's the first step?"

"Well, if you want a staff of the same size, we'll need to get a metal that's lightweight but still strong so that you'll be able to wield it." As Ruby began talking about weapons, she swiftly changed from awkward and unsure to confident.

"Don't worry if it's a bit heavier, I won't care. I have aura techniques to lighten my weapon, do Huntsman and Huntresses have similar abilities?"

"Of course! How do you think I'm able to carry Crescent Rose around all day?"

"I just assumed it was made of lightweight metals."

"Even so, SHE," Ruby glared at Anthony as she stressed she, making him throw his hands up in surrender, "is still pretty heavy, and using momentum to swing her around can only do so much. Plus, aura helps power the modules we use to transform our weapons!"

"I see. I wonder how earth aura would interact with Remnant aura technology?"

Ruby shrugged, "No idea, but I guess we'll find out soon enough." She placed down several metals and began giving a rundown on each, and also suggesting which one she thought would work best.

After selecting a metal she began measuring his old staff while Sapphire watched on. "You'll need to add a slot near the top of the staff by the way."

"What for?" Sapphire reached down and with a glow of aura (and a screwdriver) took off the orb and ring from the top of his old staff. "Ooh! What is that? Is that a weapon? Can you fire aura from it?!"

Anthony looked over and gasped. "A keystone?"

"You've been following me for a while now, how have you just noticed this now?"

"It's not like I was looking very closely at it!" He adjudged his glasses as he studied the blue orb. "I've always wanted to see one up close!"

"Yes, and now you have." He handed the orb to Ruby who examined it. Now that she looked more closely she could see there was a small symbol in the center, which was radiating a rainbow color. "Don't worry about what it does, just make sure there's a slot in the staff for it."

"Aww. Alright, I'll put a slot in the mold. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe we should make weapons for the rest of your team!"

Sapphire thought for a moment before nodding. "What types of weapons can you make in here?"

"Lots! Check the catalog near the front!" As Sapphire turned and walked away, Ruby thought for a moment before leaning towards Anthony. "Hey, maybe we should add a secret transformable weapon to his staff!"

"What? Why?"

"Well, if he has trouble trusting people, then doing something for him as a surprise and as a gift should be a great way to show him how he can trust people!"

"Yeah, I think he'll just expect to have to pay you back somehow."

"Nah, everyone loves getting surprise weapons!" Anthony lifted a finger, before sighing and nodding, going along with it. "Now, since he wants a staff, I'd say that the secondary weapon should be a more lengthwise focused one, do you think it should be a ranged or melee weapon?"

"Uh, I don't know if he knows how to use guns or whatever, so probably a melee weapon. He's said that he has training in lots of those, just mostly his staff."

"Right! Ok, hand me…"

* * *

"Harder!" Sapphire ducked back, dodging Anthony's blow. "Put your weight into it! Don't throw your punches like you want to get more in, throw them as if they mean something! Quality over quantity!"

"I… have never… thrown a punch… in my life!" Anthony gasped for breath, trying another punch, which Sapphire deflected, before throwing a punch of his own, slamming it into Anthony's stomach. He coughed, eye twitching, before his legs were swept out from underneath him. He slammed into the ground, groaning.

Sapphire set his stance again, bringing his hands up. "Come on, get up! Fight until you can't anymore!"

"I... Have reached… That point…" Sapphire sighed and lowered his hands.

"Alright, Noct you're up next." Noct bolted upright at the sound of his name, watching as Lucario dragged Anthony's form from the training ground.

"Yeah, uh, see I've totally got a stomach cramp, and definitely can't fight right now…"

"Noct. Now."

"Ugh, fine." Noct got up and stretched, walking over to Sapphire. They had all removed their usual clothes and were wearing sweatpants and T-shirts, Sapphire having told them their normal clothes would be too restrictive. Noct idly noticed that Sapphire hadn't broken a sweat during Anthony's fight, or even began breathing hard, sighing internally.

He stood across from him and tried to set a stance similar to something he'd seen in an old karate movie. Sapphire looked at his stance and inwardly sighed before settling into his own. "Alright, on go, come at me. Thr-" Before Sapphire could finish Noct charged him screaming like a madman, and Sapphire raised an eyebrow before flipping him over his shoulder. "Good, I don't need to teach you about fighting to win, not fighting fairly."

Noct groaned. "Considering that's how my pokémon fight…" He got back up, rubbing his back. "Alright, how about THIS!" He charged again, trying to use a dropkick. Which Sapphire just sidestepped. Noct quickly dropped to the ground and cried out, rubbing his backside. "Motherhumper! Son of a monkey's uncle!"

"You do know that all of us are adults right? Eighteen and seventeen is definitely adulthood. And I've gone through enough to be considered an adult even if I'm sixteen. We literally don't care if you curse."

"I'm a gentleman."

"You are the farthest damn thing from a gentleman I have ever seen." He ducked backward as Noct charged him again, watching Noct's fist sail over his head before sidestepping. "Well, unlike Anthony you're not throwing your punches faster than you should, but you are putting too much strength into them and you're overbalancing."

"Heh, the only reason you're still standing is because my theme song isn't playing! WILLOW HIT IT!"

"Excuse me what?"

"Oh, right." Willow, from where she sat on the bench next to Anthony, reached down for Noct's pokédex and pressed the screen.

Sapphire sighed as music began blaring. "God damn it." Sapphire swiftly stepped into range of Noct, causing him to step back in panic. "I'm just stopping this here."

"NANI?"

"I hate you." He swiftly grabbed his face and chest, before sweeping his legs and slamming him into the ground. "Why are you the way that you are?" Noct groaned from the dirt. "Willow, could you just not?"

"Oh right, sorry." Willow pressed Noct's Pokédex again, shutting the theme off. Sapphire sighed and rubbed his eyes, before motioning for Lucario to move Noct towards the bench.

"Alright, firstly, none of you could even last two minutes." Willow nodded, Anthony weakly coughed, and Noct groaned facedown into the bench. "So, besides weapons training, you're getting hand-to-hand combat training as well."

"Wait, weapons training?"

Sapphire nodded. "Yes. You all need to know how to fight."

Noct raised his hand, all while speaking muffled into the bench. Sapphire roughly translated his words to "We have pokémon."

"And then when you're in a situation where you don't have your pokémon, you're screwed. Now apparently, Ruby has offered to make you all weapons as well as making mine, so look through this catalog and chose one." He tossed them a semi-thick catalog, smirking slightly as Noct gave a deadpan 'ow' when it bounced off his head.

Willow picked it up and began flicking through it. "What would you suggest?"

"As beginners? Something simple. Perhaps a short sword, or a pike."

"Nah." Noct looked up weakly, eyes browsing the catalog. "Think I'll go with straight up fisticuffs. What's better than beating someone's face in from point blank? I'll have to come up with something to yell through… Damu Damu is taken already."

"Then you'll need gauntlets of some kind, probably similar to Yang's. Since you'll probably hurt your hands considering you've never thrown a proper punch before."

"Eh, probably."

"I believe I'll go with a ranged weapon, maybe a simple pistol. I don't think I'm very good with melee weapons…"

"Maybe, but at least get a dagger too, for emergencies. What about you Willow?"

"I'm not sure, perhaps a pike like you said. I'll have to think about it."

"It's not like there's an immediate need since I still have to train you all in hand-to-hand. I checked out our schedules and apparently, we have combat class tomorrow, but even if one of you is picked they'll just ask to see one of your pokémon since they're probably still curious about them."

"True." Anthony sighed, leaned back. "Can we rest now? My face hurts."

"You have been resting. Now get up, you need to learn the proper stances to throw a punch."

Anthony grumbled, shuffling over.

* * *

Sapphire breathed out, finishing his hundredth push-up. He quickly jumped to his feet and stretched. On his bed, Noct groaned and rolled over. "Sapphire, it's way too early, be quiet."

"It's seven-fifty."

"Exactly." Sapphire sighed and walked to his own bed, grabbing his bag and digging inside until he felt his clothes and pulled them out.

"Whatever, just make sure you get up soon. We have to be in class by nine."

"Nah, we live on campus, we'll be fine."

"You still need to take a shower. You didn't take one last night because you were too tired from the training. Once Willow is out I'll take mine, then you take yours. Anthony, when will you be done with breakfast?"

Anthony looked over from the dorm's kitchen area, cooking them all breakfast. "Uh, pretty soon. Probably after you get out of the shower, maybe a minute earlier. Noct will have to take his shower afterward."

"Fine. Noct, you get a few more minutes of sleep." Noct just grumbled and rolled over. The bathroom door opening revealed Willow walking out, wearing her trainer clothes with a towel around her damp hair.

"Go on in Sapph, I'm all done!" He nodded at her and entered, looking around the room. It was small, enough room for the toilet, sink, and shower, although apparently, Anthony had already neatened everything up the night before, organizing the toothbrush holder to be color coordinated, as well as putting name tags on the shampoos, and soaps.

After a quick shower, he got dressed in his raiments, adjusting his hat and grimacing when he felt his wet hair press against his skin. "Hate that feeling." He exited the bathroom to see Anthony place down several plates of food on an improvised table made from their desks, along with Willow and Noct sitting down, although Noct was more laying his face on the table than sitting.

He sat down and nodded at Anthony in thanks, before beginning to eat. Noct groaned at the smell of food and began eating. "How are you so energetic after getting up so early?"

"I woke up a while ago. Did some light exercises since we have that combat class later."

Noct snorted, before coughing slightly. "Ugh. you're insane. How early?"

"Six-thirty."

"Correction, you're insane and not human."

"People wake at six-thirty all the time. Besides, it was just an easy workout. Some combat practice, plus one-hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and squats, with a ten kilometer run around the school grounds."

Noct paused in his eating to smirk at him. "Sounds tough. Make sure you don't go bald from pushing yourself too much, yeah?"

Sapphire waved his hand, not noticing Noct's grin. "You can't just lose hair from training hard. And I usually do much more intense training anyway." Noct rolled his eyes and went back to eating. "Now, finish quickly. I don't want to be late for class."

They all finished quickly and thanked Anthony before Noct hopped into the shower and the rest of the team waited around. As they did, Anthony noticed that they were wearing their trainer clothes and raised a hand, confused. "Um, why aren't you wearing your uniforms?"

Sapphire looked at him and blinked. "Uniforms?" Now that he looked, Anthony was wearing a school uniform, and not his usual plain shirt and sweatpants.

"Yeah, apparently there's a dress code in this school. This uniform was in our closets, and apparently, they sent a message on our scrolls to wear it."

Sapphire took out his scroll and opened it, and sure enough, there was a message from Professor Goodwitch telling them the uniform was mandatory. "Yeah, we definitely need to find a way to connect these scrolls to our Pokédex's." He quickly got up and walked to his closet, opening it to grab the uniform, before removing his jacket and shirt.

There was a yelp behind him and he looked to see Willow looking away blushing. "What? Come on it's not like I'm going to get naked."

"It's still inappropriate!" She squeaked.

"Have you ever gone to the beach before?" She nodded. "Then you've seen exactly as much as I'm about to wear." He rolled his eyes and removed the rest of his clothes, leaving only his boxers, before transferring into the uniform. When he finished changing, he turned to see Willow with a fully red face.

He rolled his eyes and grabbed a female uniform from the closet, which was the same as the males only with a skirt instead of pants, along with his bed sheets. He tossed the uniform at her, before tossing the bed sheets covering her. "There, now nobody can see you getting changed."

Anthony chuckled from where he sat on his bed, and Sapphire reached into the closet to grab another uniform. When the bathroom door opened signaling that Noct was exiting, Sapphire tossed the uniform at him. "Here, we need to wear this."

"What? You mean I can't wear my leather hoodie?"

"Leather jacket."

"It has a hood, it's a hoodie." He re-entered the bathroom, changing. Meanwhile, Sapphire looked over his Aura Guardian outfit to see what he could add to the school uniform, as well as what he needed to add. The gloves and hat would be the easiest to add, but the cape and pouch might be a stretch. The belt at least he would be given a pass with since presumably, the teachers knew about their pokémon.

"Why do you want to add stuff to your uniform?" Willow finally removed the sheet, showing that she had finished changing.

"Aura Guardian uniforms have… enchantments I guess you could call them, put into the different pieces of clothing."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What kind?"

Sapphire sighed. "Is it really necessary to know?"

"I'm interested as well," Anthony interjected. "I know that your pouch has a 'bigger on the inside' thing going on, but what about the others?"

Sapphire groaned and pulled his gloves on. "It's secret, I'm not allowed to tell anyone."

"If that were true, you would have just said that first."

Noct exited the bathroom, adjusting his tie. "Eh, don't push him Ant, he'll trust us eventually. Come on, let's get to… ugh, class." Sapphire nodded at him and finished attaching his cape, and buckled his trainer belt.

They exited the dorm building, Anthony directing them from the map on the Pokédex towards their first class, something called 'Grimm Studies.' "So, What do you think the class will be like?" Noct raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure it'll be interesting, and very useful to us. After all, if this is a school to teach warriors then they would need to understand their enemies very well to defeat them, and this school would hire nothing but the best." Sapphire responded.

* * *

Sapphire slammed his face into the table, even his patience shattered as he groaned into the wood. The professor of the class was a rotund man, with a large mustache. At first, Sapphire thought him to be a retired, experienced Huntsman, and he may have been, but when he began going on and on and on about his own escapades which were clearly exaggerated, Sapphire quickly lost all respect.

Granted, there were nuggets of truth in his story that could be used for learning, but you had to dig so deep for them that it was useless. Hell, the drawings on the walls were more useful, displaying the anatomy of the Grimm. Well, not the anatomy, considering they had no organs, nor bones except those that were armor outside their body, but more weak points on their bodies to attack.

Sapphire just meditated and practiced his aura control, while Anthony and Willow respectively began reading history and fiction books, and Noct mimicked Yang by falling asleep.

Fortunately, the rest of their classes were more useful, their history class giving them valuable insight to… well, the history of the world, and anything that he might have missed due to the professor's hyper speed level of speech was caught by Anthony.

Dust studies was also useful, learning about the chemical composition of dust, and how it interacts with the world. There was even an amusing moment where Ruby had accidentally activated an Ice dust crystal, and in her panic tossed it into Anthony's lap. A moment later, and there was an ice statue sitting in the middle of the class, and the blond boy had to be thawed out.

The most interesting class, however, was combat class. In it, Professor Goodwitch would set up matches between students, and give them advice after their battle on ways to improve. Sapphire watched each student that went up, judging them internally, seeing whether they would be threats to himself or his pokémon. Of course, in his eyes, everyone was a threat, but what he was looking for was if he could beat them.

There was an alarm, and suddenly the lights in the auditorium lit up. The match had been stopped, one combatant having had his aura reach the red zone. Goodwitch walked up and began giving them advice loudly so that everyone could hear, but he turned it out, already concluding the ways they could all improve.

"Willow Thorne, Noct Umbra. Please come up." Sapphire started and looked up, seeing Willow's smiling picture and Noct's grinning one on the roulette wheel that chose the fighters. Sapphire then narrowed his eyes, even as they stood up to approach the stage. The chance of the two of them being chosen to fight each other was incredibly low, especially out of everyone else.

Willow went to stand on one side of the stage, while Noct went to stand on the other. "As neither of you have aura or at least any that we can display," Goodwitch began, "you will instead have a pokémon battle."

Sapphire nodded. Of course they would be making them have a pokémon battle, they probably wanted to find out more about them, and what better way than a battle? Of course, nobody there knew anything about pokémon so Goodwitch would not be able to referee it. Instead, he stood up and approached the stage to explain such to her.

Goodwitch listened and nodded, accepting this. He turned away to begin the match, before turning back. "By the way will this be a one-on-one match? Doubles? Six-versus-six?"

"I believe a one-on-one is best for now." He nodded and turned away.

"On my count, you will release your pokémon. This will be a singles battle, one pokémon each. Noct, no pokémon that will destroy the building." He ignored the indignant squawk. "The match will end when one pokémon is unconscious. Z-Moves and Mega Evolution are disallowed if you have any."

Willow nodded while Noct grumbled about not being able to show off his more dangerous pokémon. Sapphire raised an arm, counting down. "Three! Two! One! Begin!"

"Beedrill, show the forest's power!"

"Houndoom, it's time to party!"

They tossed forward their red pokéballs, and with bright flashes of white, the battle started.

* * *

 **Chapter, End.**

 **So, cliffhanger/not cliffhanger, because really, what important story element could possibly happen during a pokémon battle? I just didn't want to make y'all wait any longer, since I get really into writing battles.**

 **Revealed pokémon so far:**

 **Sapphire's team**

 **-Lucario - partner**

 **-Zorua**

 **-Solgaleo/Necrozma**

 **Anthony's team**

 **-Ampharos - partner**

 **-Plusle**

 **-Minun**

 **Noct's team**

 **-Hydreigon the insane - partner**

 **-Houndoom**

 **Willow's team**

 **-Roserade - partner**

 **-Beedrill**


	5. Chapter 5: Showing Off

**New chapter, beginning with a battle. Yays. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter five: Showing Off

* * *

"Houndoom, start with Flamethrower!" Houndoom barked and opened his jaws, unleashing a stream of flames at his bug opponent, who swiftly dodged the attack by flying high into the air over the arena.

The bug-type buzzed in annoyance at the attack, before pointing her stingers at Houndoom, launching several Twineedle attacks at the grounded pokémon. Houndoom dodged to the side spitting several balls of Fire upwards.

Beedrill dodged around them before Willow called out an attack. "Beedrill, Focus Energy into Pin Missile!" Beedrill buzzer an acknowledgment and began glowing slightly as it concentrated.

"Houndoom, low power Fire Spins at different points in the arena!" Houndoom flicked his tail and followed Noct's order, spawning several Fire Spins, which all began spiraling up and heating the air. Beedrill began unbalancing, the air currents constantly changing from the heat.

On the side, Sapphire crossed his arms. "Clever. Mixing up the air patterns to knock Beedrill out of the sky. It'd be more effective against bird pokémon who rely more heavily on air currents than bugs who just flap their wings quickly, but air currents do help bugs somewhat, I guess."

Next to him, Glynda nodded. "Indeed. While slightly crass, your acquaintance shows high levels of skill in commanding his pokémon."

"Yeah. I wonder if his dumb personality is just a trick to make people underestimate him. I'd expect his whole team to be powerhouses that just attack and try to overwhelm the opponent with sheer force, but it seems he can strategize."

"I heard that!" Noct yelled from his side of the arena.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah, yeah. Alright Houndoom, Fire Fang!" Houndoom barked and jumped up, Beedrill having fallen close to the ground and now in range.

" _Get over here, bug!"_

"Payback!" Houndoom slammed into Beedrill, biting down hard on her midsection, while Beedrill in return slammed a black colored stinger into his body. Houndoom was thrown back yelping in pain, while Beedrill buzzed angrily.

" _Buzz off!"_

On the sidelines, Sapphire held his chin as Beedrill continually tried to gain distance and throw out ranged attacks, while Houndoom would run around to dodge, throwing out powerful attacks as he tried to get closer. "I think I'm seeing more of their styles now. Noct trains his pokémon to be powerful hitters, who can take a beating but not that much, so not really glass cannons, but close, while Willow's pokémon are more quick, evasive, and ranged."

"Who do you suppose will win?" Glynda asked as she tapped on her pad. Sapphire glanced over subtly and saw she was manipulating several cameras around the battle. But Sapphire didn't see any cameras around the field… perhaps miniature drones?

"It's hard to say. Many things can affect the outcome of a battle, especially if a trainer can come up with a winning strategy during the battle. Coming up with a plan before a battle is certainly useful, but if the opponent can counter that plan you need to be able to plan on the fly. It's very important for trainers."

Sapphire lowered his hand and placed it on his hip. "To be honest, my bets are on Willow. Noct's pokémon could easily overpower Willow's, but that's only if Houndoom can catch up with Beedrill. Look at how Beedrill is prioritizing escape rather than attack. Yes, she's throwing out a few attacks, but keeping out of range is much more important for such a frail pokémon. Unless Noct comes up with a way to slow down Beedrill, Houndoom will wear himself out and Beedrill will finish him off."

Noct seemed to have realized this himself, cupping his hands around his mouth to be heard over the roar of the flames. "Houndoom, Heat Wave!" Houndoom skid to a stop and growled, flames licking up from between his teeth, before letting off a bark and releasing a wave of light fire.

"Protect!" A shimmering white-grey bubble shield appeared around the bug, but when the flames disappeared the shield dropped, Houndoom burst forward with glowing fangs. While the Heat Wave was still battering the shield, Houndoom had closed in for a sneak attack and bit down from above.

" _Surprise!"_

Noct let out a boisterous laugh from his side of the field. "The power of sneak attacks! It's over, Willow, now WE have the high ground!"

Beedrill hissed at the super-effective attack, before Willow called out, "Endeavour!" Beedrill glowed, which then spread to Houndoom. Beedrill then smacked Houndoom away with a stinger, flying up high. "Now, finish with Pin Missile!" Beedrill's stingers glowed, before dozens of glowing streaks of bug type energy shaped like pins streaked towards the weakened fire-dark type.

"If we're going down then you lose as well! Houndoom, Destiny Bond!" Houndoom smirked and howled, a sickly purple aura surrounding him before shooting upwards and covering Beedrill.

" _You're going down with me you overgrown bug!"_

"Beedrill, stop the attack!" Beedrill tried to redirect the attack, but couldn't stop all of the Pin Missiles, and when Houndoom was subsequently knocked out, a flash of more sickly purple shot up, and Beedrill fell from the air, knocked out.

Sapphire nodded and threw his hand up. "Both Houndoom and Beedrill are knocked out. The match is a draw."

Glynda blinked. "What… happened?"

"Endeavour is a powerful move, which drains the opponent's health until they are as weak as you are, and Destiny Bond is a move that makes the opponent faint when you faint."

"Can Destiny Bond kill?"

Sapphire hesitated for a millisecond. "I've never personally seen it kill." He ignored the look she shot him, walking back to his seat with his fellow trainers.

* * *

Ozpin sipped from his mug as he looked at the footage that Glynda's mini-cameras observed the battle. "An interesting battle."

"Indeed." Glynda tapped at her pad and looked up. "Sapphire has messaged that he and his fellow trainers are on their way now."

"Hm." Ozpin turned slightly. "What do you suppose Z-Moves or Mega-Evolution is? He spoke about it briefly before the fight."

"Considering how he said not to use them indoors, they're either incredibly powerful, or they don't want to give away trump cards."

"Hm. You've mentioned why we want them here?"

"Yes. The council expressed concerns over our… extraterrestrial guests."

Ozpin hid a smile behind his mug. "Perhaps we shouldn't call them extraterrestrials when they get here. I believe Mr. Umbra would take that and use it as a running joke."

"I think so as well. He acts childish, but he seems professional and skilled with his battle tactics."

"So another Qrow then."

"It would seem so," Glynda sighed. He chuckled himself, finding it humorous. There was a ding and he turned towards the elevator. The team of trainers stepped out, Anthony and Noct observing the gears and cogs of his office, while Willow was looking out the window towards the forest and Sapphire focused solely on them.

As Ozpin had noted before, Sapphire's gaze was intense and focused, not paying attention to distractions. Internally he sighed, He was too young to be acting so seriously. "Ozpin. Miss Goodwitch. When are the council calling?"

Straight to the point. "They are ready for the call to begin, we were just waiting on your team. Of course, the call can wait a few extra minutes so we can talk specifically on what they want."

Sapphire nodded, ignoring Noct as he knelt down and tapped on the glass below his feet. "Alright."

Ozpin pressed a button on his desk, causing a hologram to pop up. On it, Noct's pokémon battle with team CRDL was shown, before it transferred to a video of the battle between Noct and Willow's pokémon. "It seems some students took videos of these battles and posted them to the CCT."

Sapphire nodded. "Alright, but didn't you say you have an obligation to send camera footage of things that happen on campus to this council? Or something to that effect?"

"Yes, but that would be at the end of the month, giving you time to think of ways to explain what is happening in the videos."

Sapphire sighed. "Either way, the explanation would have been the truth. If we came up with an explanation like we come from a land where these creatures that we captured roam free, they'd want to know where it is. We have to tell them we're extraterrestrials."

"Oh my god, I never thought of that! We're totally aliens!" Ozpin smiled as Sapphire visibly twitched, before ignoring his teammate.

"Anyway, do you have any idea what kinds of questions they'll ask us?"

"I'm sure you can guess a few. How dangerous are they, how many do you have, show us the rest of them, etcetera."

"Right. You said somebody uploaded this to the CCT, which is like the internet where we're from, how many people have seen this?"

"I believe it has, as the students say, gone viral."

"God damn it… there go my plans for exploring Vale undercover."

"Dude, undercover isn't a thing with you. You wear those blue clothes everywhere."

"I concur with Noct. You even put those clothes on your school uniform."

Willow just nodded sheepishly.

"Hey, I can wear clothes other than my raiments. I just haven't had a reason not to yet. Going undercover would have been a good reason, but I suppose there's no reason to now. They would recognize my face anyway."

"You can still go into Vale, you might just be… accosted by some civilians wanting to see your pokémon."

"Which is exactly what I don't want. Whatever, anybody have any other questions for Ozpin before the video call starts?"

"Hold on, I need to think of various references I can make to confuse the council."

"Start the call, quickly Ozpin." Ozpin chuckled at the byplay and pressed another button, allowing another window to pop up. In it, several people were able to be seen sitting at a table, but the light was in the perfect position so that their faces were unable to be viewed.

Before anything could say anything, Noct blurted out, "Holy crap I'm in Xcom now! Hello, Council of the Poorly lit Bald People!"

The silence that followed was loud enough that the sound of Sapphire slapping the back Noct's head and Anthony's whisper of "Wow, I actually got that reference," was clearly audible. Ozpin hid another smile.

Eventually, a council member cleared their throat. "Has Ozpin already explained why we requested your presence?"

"You want to know about our pokémon."

One of the council members mumbled the name to himself, probably finding it amusing, while the others ignored them. "If that is what you call them, yes. Where did you acquire such powerful animals?"

Ozpin observed Willow bristle, Anthony straighten up, Noct scoff and Sapphire cross his arms. While all of their reactions were slightly different, each obviously cared for their pokémon, and visibly did not approve of the council member calling their friends 'animals'.

"We _befriended_ them back home." Ozpin let a small smile appear. Outwardly, Sapphire was calmer than the others, but his voice had a tinge of warning.

"And where would your home be? An unidentified island perhaps? Unexplored lands? We would need to know where of course-"

"Good luck with that one." Ozpin watched Noct's eyebrows lift as let out a quiet 'ooo' at the snark that was in Sapphire's last statement. "I personally am from a country called the United States of America, and a region called Unova, although a very hidden part."

"Kanto as well," Anthony spoke up. "Celadon city, specifically."

Willow spoke next. "Another country for me, Kalos. Shalour city."

"Japan for me too, but I hail from the wonderfully cold Sinnoh region!" Noct gave a theatrical bow.

"And just where are these countries located?"

Noct grinned, "Y'all ever heard of Earth?"

"Dirt?"

Sapphire slapped the back of Noct's head again, even as Anthony had a breakdown behind them at the fact that their ancestors literally named their planet after dirt. "Earth is the name of our planet."

Silence, before "Ozpin, are they sane?"

"Sanity is relative," Noct said before Sapphire sighed and clamped his hand over Noct's mouth.

"That's staying there for the rest of this meetings and if you lick me I kill you. Ozpin, did you show them the footage of our arrival?"

"Not yet, that was to be included in the end of the month report. I can send it now, however." Ozpin navigated his way through the terminal, before sending the camera footage to the Council of the Poorly lit Bald People. Hm. He may have to appropriate that name from Mr. Umbra.

The council went silent as they watched the footage, before looking towards the trainers. "And if we assume that portal was created by a semblance or device?"

"Firstly, a semblance powerful enough to create a portal _that_ large is probably impossible, and yes, it was made by a device, but one from Earth. I've heard that Atlas is the technological titan of this world, but I'm sure even they don't have teleportation technology."

The council hesitantly nodded their assent. "And besides that, I'm sure Ozpin has at least sent you the medical tests they took of us. From what they've told me, biologically, we are incredibly similar to the humans of this world, and the Faunus of course, except for the aura readings. I have obviously shown abilities only possible through aura and semblances, yet your remnant machines cannot sense any of my aura."

"This is true…"

Anthony moved forward, slightly sweating as the gaze of the council turned to him. "B-besides that evidence, our Pokédexs are obviously foreign technology as well, and hold knowledge of Earth and earth tech on them. I-I've found a way to connect our Pokédexs to Remnant tech, so Ozpin can send their data to you…"

"Do that." Anthony nodded and moved towards Ozpin desk. When he looked over, Ozpin just nodded his consent and Anthony took a wire to plug the Pokédex into the desk, before tapping at the screen slowly, still slightly unused to the Remnant technology, before sending the data.

They looked over it and sighed. "Yes, all of this evidence together is irrefutable. You are truly extraterrestrial." Cue Noct giggling behind Sapphire's hand, and Sapphire shooting him the now standard glare. "The next question is, why are you here?"

"There are different answers depending on what 'here' you mean. If you mean Beacon, it is because Ozpin offered to let us stay here after we were attacked by Grimm in the… What was it called? Forever Fall Forest? Yeah, that. If you mean Remnant, we came here by accident. A machine from our world which was a prototype teleporter malfunctioned, bringing us here. Currently, we have to wait for the people from our home to make another machine to bring us back."

"Hm. Now then, your pokémon."

"What about them?"

"I will just say it outright. Are they a threat?"

Sapphire almost crossed his arms, before remembering he would have to take his hand off of Noct's mouth and let him say random stuff that would annoy everyone. "That can depend. Different pokémon have different levels of power. Comparing a first stage evolution pokémon to their final counterpart is like comparing the Grimm you call Creeps to… perhaps relatively young Goliaths. And comparing a regular pokémon to a legendary is like an Ursa Major to an Ancient Grimm."

"So these legendaries… they can destroy towns, cities?"

Sapphire stayed silent, before saying "There are legendaries that can destroy the entire planet."

Silence. "Truly?"

"The legends around them are hard to prove, considering you need to find and then talk to a legendary, but the proof is in their actions. As is my job, I've traveled the globe to prevent tragedies, and have witnessed and been involved in multiple battles with legendaries. Groudon and Kyogre, the continent and the sea basin pokémon respectively, had a battle they could have either dried up the oceans or drowned the land depending upon who won. I had to get the help of an ancient clan to work with Rayquaza, the sky-high pokémon who protects the Earth from meteors, to stop them both."

Willow spoke up. "I had to stop a madman from wiping out all life on earth with the energy of the legendary pokémon of death, Yveltal, the destruction pokémon, and stopped a pokémon named Hoopa from destroying and terrorizing a town."

Noct grabbed Sapphire's hand, taking it off to talk, which Sapphire allowed. "I was involved in an incident involving Giratina the pokémon of antimatter and opposites, also known as the renegade pokémon. It didn't turn violent, thankfully, but still. Giratina was one of the first pokémon created, and extremely powerful. It was pretty cool." Back on went the hand.

"I haven't done much with legendaries personally, but I've treated several Pseudo-legendaries as a doctor, which are also pretty powerful."

"I've had to travel to another world to defeat an extraordinarily powerful legendary who stole the literal light of the world and nearly plunged it into eternal darkness, named Necrozma." Several council members stiffened, and Ozpin raised an eyebrow, remembering how Sapphire called the large gold pokémon in the video Necrozma as well. He looked over and noted that while he had five red and white balls on his belt, he had the stark white one around his neck. The pokémon looked dangerous in the video, but to hear how powerful it could be…

"How many pokémon do each of you have?"

"Six," Sapphire stated.

"Six as well," Willow nodded.

Noct held up six fingers.

"Four," Anthony said.

"Why do most of you have six? Is that some important number in your world?"

"Not especially, it is just that most pokémon battles go up to six on six, so most people carry six pokémon at all times. It isn't illegal to carry more though, and I usually do so, but since I was on business before being brought here, I had sent my injured pokémon home."

"And I just have four because I'm a doctor, not a battler, my pokémon are mostly for helping people. Ampharos, my partner, I've had since I was young, and he's the best fighter on my team. The rest of my pokémon are mainly healers and support."

Another council member spoke up, "could you show us these pokémon?"

Sapphire immediately shot them down, "No."

"And why not?"

"Because not all of them could fit in here. And the ones that could, might break the glass with their weight."

"Hm. A simple enough reason. Which ones can you show us?"

"We can send out some-"

"Try and show us ones we haven't seen."

'Sapphire hides his annoyance well,' Ozpin thought to himself. He obviously did not want to show them his pokémon, and Ozpin could understand why. The more of an unknown they were, the more of an advantage they had. They already knew of a few of them, and the council even less. The council only knew of Sapphire's Necrozma, Noct's Houndoom and Absol, and Willow's Beedrill, while Ozpin himself knew of a few more.

"Alright." He reached down to his belt, sending forward a pokéball, which released a familiar (to Ozpin, Glynda, and the trainers at least) pokémon, his small fox, Zorua. The others followed suit, sending out a humanoid rose, the small pokémon that Ozpin recognizes as Plusle and Minun, and a large purple and black dragon.

Most of the eyes snapped to the dragon, which was huffing slightly. "…is that some kind of Grimm pokémon?"

"Grimm do not exist on earth."

"Truly?"

"None. There are… methods that various evil organizations have used to… let's say corrupt pokémon, but even then they are nowhere near the evil of Grimm."

"Fascinating. Would there be a way to bridge our worlds, after you return?"

"I'm not certain. I can try and find a way though. To be honest, I thought about it initially, when I first learned how widespread the Grimm are after arriving at Beacon, evacuating Remnant's people to our world so they would no longer have to fear the Grimm." Ozpin raised his eyebrows. Sapphire certainly kept surprising him. "Of course, I'm a fighter for peace, I don't know about running kingdoms, or belong people move to a different planet. You would need to talk to government officials from Earth."

"Of course. I suppose that helps our view of you, that that would be one of your first thoughts upon learning of the Grimm threat at Beacon." They observed the pokémon, whose arms (which had heads on them!) were snapping at each other. "How dangerous is it?"

"Dangerous," Sapphire cut in before Noct could say anything. "But completely under control." The look Sapphire then shot Noct seemed to say 'it better be under control.'

The pokémon huffed and said something, before falling silent.

"What are they called?"

"Hydreigon," he said pointing at the dragon, "also known as the Brutal Pokémon, a dark-dragon type. Next, Zorua, "That's Zorua, the Tricky Fox Pokémon, a dark type." Next were young Anthony's. "Plusle is the red one, Minun the blue one, they're electric types and known as the Cheering Pokémon." last, Willow's. "That's a Roserade, grass and poison type, the Bouquet Pokémon."

"What are typings, are they similar Dust types?"

"Similar. There's no Dust in our world, just like how there's no Grimm, instead, pokémon are classified by their typings. There are eighteen different types, and each affects each other differently. The attacks pokémon use are also types, Fairy-type, Ghost-type, Steel-type, etcetera. But, If that's all…?"

The council members murmured amongst one another for a few moments before nodding. "We just want to know one more thing…" the middle council member leaned forwards, "What are your goals? Will you be a threat to Vale's safety or Remnant as a whole?"

That got a slight smirk out of Sapphire, who seemed to at least respect that they had asked the question. "None of us would ever purposely put innocents in the way of harm. And my job back home, as I've said, was to protect people. Until we return home, we would like to stay at Beacon, and if we are not able to return home… then we will have Hunter Training as well as our pokémon, and I, at least, will dedicate my time to protecting people."

"Me too," Willow nodded.

"Mfe three!" Sapphire grimaced as Noct's spit hit his hand.

"While I would prefer to stay a doctor, I can still protect people with training, I guess…"

The council members talked to each other for a moment, before turning back to them. "We'll allow it. Headmaster Ozpin, they will be your responsibility."

He bowed his head slightly. "Of course, Council Member."

"Hm. Very well. And remember: We will be watching."

The video feed cut off, and Sapphire lowered his hand, just in time for Noct to say, "Holy crap, they really are Xcom!"

* * *

Anthony watched as Sapphire examined his new staff. It was a beautiful thing, the center of it having a cool blue leather wrapping for Sapphire to hold, while the rest of the metallic staff was painted a darker navy blue and the ends black. It was obviously designed to match his Guardian Raiments and worked to hide the seams in the weapon the revealed where it would retract and expand when Mecha-shifting. Sapphire began twirling it slowly, before going into a complicated series of combo attacks. After he was done, he nodded. "It's satisfactory."

Ruby pouted and Anthony quickly grabbed Sapphire's shoulder, pointing at her. "Sapph, come on…"

Sapphire rolled his eyes. "Fine, it's really good. Thank you, Ruby. But what about the holder for the Key Stone?" She grinned brightly.

"No problem! And the Key Stone holder is at the top, just press this button here!" She pressed down on a button and the up of the staff opened up, revealing a holder. Sapphire nodded and placed the Key Stone in, screwing it into place. "It looks kind of fragile, so I made it so you can retract the Key Stone into the staff itself!"

"Well, it isn't fragile, but I guess that is… considerate." He pressed the button again and the Key Stone retracted into the staff.

"Now then, I added a surprise feature-"

"You did what?"

Anthony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I said you wouldn't want something extra."

"If you press _this_ button, you extend a blade!" She did as she said and pressed down, and on the bottom of the staff, a long, thin polished-grey blade popped out. "Then you can press this button," the side of the staff retracted, and the blade popped out, connected to a short sword. The hilt was rather simple and designed opposite to the staff. The small circular handguard being a cool blue, while the leather he would hold was dark navy blue. "And you have an extra weapon, a sword!"

He looked at it, before shaking his head. "I don't use sharp weapons."

"But… I thought you said you knew-"

"I know how to use swords and daggers, but I don't use them. It's much easier to kill with a sharp weapon than a blunt one. I don't kill."

"Sapphire…" Anthony thought for a moment, "If we're going to be fighting Grimm, don't you think it's a good idea to have a sharp cutting weapon? And besides that, with aura in this world, you aren't going to accidentally kill anyone."

Sapphire still looked… uncomfortable? With the sword in Ruby's hand, so Anthony lightly took the sword and returned it to the inside of the staff. "Well, it's not like you have to use it. It's there for emergencies."

"But… but…"

"Ruby, it IS his weapon. If he chooses not to use it, then he doesn't have to. Anyway, what about my weapon?"

Ruby perked up at the thought of showing off another weapon she'd made, and grabbed what looked like a slim metallic crossbow from the forge counter. It was a dark grey and black, but still polished and shining, while small parts of it were highlighted with gold and red. What looked like a magazine below the weapon was instead mainly gold, with black and red highlights. She handed the weapon over to Anthony who braced for the weight but was surprised by how light it was.

"Now this is pretty much what it likes like, a long-range heavy duty crossbow with an auto reload and twelve shot magazine plus mecha-shift capabilities into a one-handed hatchet!"

Sapphire looked at the weapon. "…I could infer none of that from looking at it."

She sighed and began pointing at various parts, naming what they could do. Now, Anthony hated people who bragged and stuff like that, but he knew he was smart. It was how he'd aced most of his exams in medical school, while still having time to study technology like the Pokédex. He was naturally a genius. But Ruby definitely outclassed him in the knowledge of weapons.

He tried to keep up, but could only understand the basics, how the electrically powered pulley would automatically cock back the part the arrows would rest in near instantly, while a magazine beneath the weapon itself would place another arrow to be fired when the… thingie slash device was pulled back. He couldn't even begin to understand how the weapon mecha-shifted, only that the weapon split in two, and an hatchet-head would elongate as the stock extended for an easier grip. Said hatchet-head was a nice, polished grey.

Even Sapphire, who probably had more experience with weapons than he would ever get looked dazed from the amount of information flowing from Ruby's mouth. When she was finished, she looked at them proudly, and Sapphire said: "So, he presses that thing to shift it, and that to switch magazines?"

"Ugh, were you paying attention to anything I said?"

"Yes. The only problem is I understood none of it."

"I think it's really well made Ruby, even if I couldn't understand most of that, thanks!" Ruby smiled brightly at him, and he grinned back. He hefted the crossbow, looking down the sight, and thinking. The place the arrows were loaded into was pretty much the perfect size… And if it wasn't, he could just adjust them… Noct would probably label him the insane doctor or something similar for what he was thinking of doing, but if he could pull it off then he could be a huge help in battles.

The door to the forge opened up, and Noct and Willow walked in, upon seeing them they walked over, with Noct grinning. "Yo, Blue, Red, Blondike Bar!"

Sapphire sighed. "Well, 'Blue' is marginally better than Sasuke I suppose."

"Nah, it's only a placeholder 'till I think of something better!" Willow laughed at Sapphire's following scowl.

"Hello everybody. I heard our weapons are ready then?"

Before Ruby could answer Anthony held up a hand. "Wait, Blondike Bar?"

"Duh. Remember the other day when you were turned into an ice sculpture by Red?" Anthony nodded even as Duby blushed and twiddled her thumbs. "Well, that's your nickname! You know, Klondike Bars, the ice cream things? Change a letter and boom!"

"That…" Anthony sighed. "Whatever. Not like I can convince you to change it."

"Hell to the naw you can't!"

"What are you, forty trying to be seventeen?"

"Eh, at least I'm not trying to be some old wrinkled monk boy. Who the heck uses Staffs for fighting?"

"People who have actual skill in things other than being lazy and pokémon battles. Besides, shouldn't you be telling Anthony to get with the times? He got a crossbow."

Noct looked over and his eyes widened, before taking the crossbow from his arms. "Holy crap this is awesome! Check me out, I'm Corvo Attano!"

Willow snorted. "You wish you could date an empress."

"Wait you play video games?!" He knelt down. "Date me." Sapphire actually let out a snort at that one, while Anthony felt a smile grow.

Ruby brought everyone back on track. "Hey, I still need to show off- I-I mean to show you your weapons!" Noct snorted at the verbal backstep, even as Willow nodded. "Okay, Willow you're up first!" She stepped back towards the counter and grabbed a pike with a polished grey blade, and first green shaft. Willow took it from her and marveled at how light it was, considering it was longer than she was tall, the shaft being about six feet, while the blade on the end was about a foot long, and probably hiding some of the shaft.

"When I was designing your weapons you remember how I would come up and ask what your battle style was like?" Willow nodded. Over the week that Ruby was designing and making the weapons, she'd come up and ask them all what their fighting styles were like. Of course, they'd all answered that they themselves didn't have fighting styles, but that they'd trained their pokémon in certain ways.

"Well, since Anthony said that his pokémon were more like the support that healed other pokémon or buffed them, I gave him a crossbow to give support from across the battlefield, plus the hatchet for if a Grimm gets to close. But since you said that you trained your pokémon for ranged and quick combat…" she pressed a button and the weapon began shifting, parts pulling back and parting until a hunting rifle had formed, with the blade of the pike forming a bayonet at the front. The rifle still had the forest green metal, but now more parts were polished grey, like the trigger, magazine, and bolt.

"I made it so it can transform into a rifle! I admit I took some inspiration from Pyrrha's weapon, and I _did_ want to give it a third form, but I figured having to learn how to shoot and how to use a pike would be difficult enough." Willow nodded, pulling back the bolt with a satisfying _click_ to see a bullet already in the barrel, and double checked to make sure the safety was on and that her fingers were off the trigger.

"Good idea," Sapphire nodded. "Perhaps you should get Pyrrha to teach you how to use your weapon, She is rather skilled with her own."

"Can you teach me?"

"Well… I suppose I know how to shoot a rifle, but I'm not as good at it as Pyrrha probably is."

"And he has a phobia of blades weapons."

"What?"

"No, I don't." Sapphire looked irritated and Anthony quickly backtracked.

"W-well maybe not a phobia, but he doesn't like them." Noct looked at Sapphire before placing a hand on Willow's new weapon and slowly brought the bayonet close towards Sapphire's face. He irritatedly batted it away, glaring at Noct.

"I don't have a phobia, I just don't like using them."

"Why not?"

"None of your business why not."

"Oooh, that's the quickest you've shot down a question so far, you usually dance around the subject! Are we gonna get some kind of gritty backstory now?"

"No. Willow, Pyrrha will train you. Ruby, what did you make for Noct?"

"Ah, oh, here." She grabbed the last item from the bench, which… Anthony didn't know what it was, some kind of amalgamation of gauntlets, belts, and latches, and all of the belts had some kind of round objects on them. The gauntlets themselves were silver in color with black highlights, while all of the belts were silver. "I tried to follow your specifications on what you wanted, and though it's a bit bulky, this was the best I could do."

"What… is that?"

"Grenade launcher gauntlets."

"What."

Noct grinned and removed his black jacket to put on the gauntlets, hearing them click as they adjusted to his arms before the fronts opened up revealing grenades in the chambers. He then grabbed the various belts and began putting them on, around his arms, chest and another above his trainer belt. Now that Anthony knew the gauntlets fires _grenades_ he realized all of the round objects on the belts were extra grenades to reload with. Anthony then took ten steps back, realizing he was now a walking explosive.

After putting on everything, he grabbed his leather jacket and put it back on, which hid the explosives from sight rather well. Even the gauntlets were hidden, only the tips being seen and even then looking like the tips of some silver bracelets. "Ha, now all I need to do is remove my jacket and I'm ready for battle!"

Sapphire seemed to recover from the aneurysm he'd suffered from after hearing 'grenade launcher gauntlets' all in a row. "No. Absolutely not. That is an _EXTREME_ health hazard."

"Actually," Ruby spoke, "after hearing what he wanted, I made sure to design the weapons so he wouldn't be in risk of hurting himself. The gauntlets are reinforcing his arms so he can't hurt himself when throwing an explosion fueled punch, and the chance of a grenade not launching and going off inside the gauntlet, setting off a chain reaction and at best removing his arm while at worst destroying everything within five feet and killing anything within twenty by shrapnel is only a two point four percent chance!"

"That's still a chance it _will_ happen!"

"Hey, you ever tried to hit a shot in Xcom with a ninety-five percent chance of hitting? You always miss!"

"Noct, this isn't a video game! And that made no sense, what?!"

"No, it's a tv show, and I'm the star!"

"Oh, you'll be seeing some stars soon alright."

"How do metal gauntlets protect your bones? Wouldn't the force travel through them and into your bones?"

Anthony looked back and forth, unable to keep up with the multiple conversations all happening at once. He then turned to Ruby. "Uh, yeah, you want to leave and show me how my weapon works again? I think they may be at this for a while…"

* * *

Sapphire fumed as he climbed the stairs in the door building. Noct has argued with him well into the afternoon and night, even during dinner and training, and he _still_ refused to remove the _literal explosives_ he had strapped to his body! How could he not see that he was a danger to himself and everybody around him?!

Sapphire went to slam open the door to the rooftop before he heard sounds from the other side. He had come up there to take out his frustrations, a quick spar with Lucario since Noct was training himself in the arena, but it seemed someone else was up there.

He activated aura vision and gazed through the door. On the other side were two blobs of aura, with several dozen below his feet as people hung out in the dorm rooms below him. He was quite used to the sight of the blob-like aura's now, instead of auras that conformed to the shape of the person or pokémon.

On the other side was a red aura and a white aura. So either Ruby and Weiss or Pyrrha and Jaune. Or another combination of people but he couldn't recall any other teams that had a combination of teammates with red and white auras. Although considering he could hear male and female voices, it was most likely Pyrrha and Jaune.

"Jaune, everyone needs a little push from time to time. It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us. You made it into Beacon, that speaks volumes of what you're capable of!" Were they talking of training? From what he'd seen so far of Jaune, he was _not_ a good fighter. He wasn't sure why Ozpin had let him in. Pyrrha has told them about the encounter with the scorpion Grimm, but such a plan seemed rather simple. Sapphire supposed that he hadn't seen Jaune in a proper team battle, but still… perhaps he had potential as she said, but it would take hard work.

Jaune said something quietly, but Sapphire couldn't hear it. Pyrrha responded loudly, "that's a terrible thing to say, of course you belong here!" Ah, he could infer what he'd said.

Jaune suddenly yelled, and Sapphire raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't! I…" his voice lowered, but just loud enough that he could hear it through the door. "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon." Sapphire raised the other eyebrow.

"What… do you mean?"

"I mean I didn't go to combat school, I didn't pass any tests, I didn't earn my spot at this academy!" There was a sigh. "I lied. I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and I lied." Sapphire sighed through his nose.

"But… why?"

"Because this is what I've always wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him! They were all warriors, all heroes! I wanted to be one too. I just wanted to be good enough…"

"Jaune, then let me help you!"

"No, don't you understand?! I don't want to be the damsel in distress, I want to be the hero! I don't want to be the one, stuck in the tree, while his friends fight for their lives! If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?"

"I don't know, but if you refuse help then you're definitely an idiot." Sapphire pushes open the rooftop door and watched Jaune and Pyrrha turn towards him, panic clearly visible in Jaune's eyes.

"Sapphire!"

"How much did you hear?"

Sapphire turned his gaze to Pyrrha. "No idea, but I definitely caught the confession."

"Sapphire, please, you can't tell anyone! I-"

He held a hand up. "Jaune, did you think about anybody but yourself when you decided to forge those transcripts?"

"Well…"

"Did you think about how your lack of training could have gotten somebody hurt- killed, maybe, because they had to protect you?"

"But… t-that's why I need to get stronger! So nobody has to take care of me!"

"Arceus you're an idiot…" sapphire held his forehead. "Jaune, how do you get stronger?"

"Well…"

Sapphire turned to Pyrrha and raised an eyebrow. She took the hint and turned to Jaune. "Training. I trained to get this strong, and I'm guessing Sapphire did as well."

"Yes. Just as trainers train their pokémon as well. None of mine would be as strong as they are now if they hadn't trained. But do you know what else is important?" He pointed at Pyrrha, before himself. "A trainer. Someone to guide you, to help you. You can become strong on your own, that's true, but most of the time, if you don't have a guide, someone to show you what's right to do and what's wrong, you can end up making negative progress, memorizing stances that weaken you in combat, or something similar."

"With a trainer, you have someone willing to show you what to do and what not to. Someone who is willing to help you. Pyrrha, did you have trainers?"

"Yes."

"And I did as well. My father, even other people in the village that weren't Guardians but could fight. And my pokémon, I helped train them too. My point is, going it alone is possible, but why do that when you have your closest friend here, offering you _help?_ "

Jaune couldn't come up with a retort, and Sapphire quickly finished. "Look at Anthony. He's useless in a fight. Sure he's a doctor, but how much can you do in the middle of a heated battle? Yes, there are pokémon moves that are instant heals, but him, personally? It's why I'm training him. But I didn't just start training him randomly, I asked if he'd like to be trained. I'll admit that I pressured him since I did not want him, Willow, or Noct to die while under my protection, but even then he said that he was thinking about coming to me for training since he wanted to help in the future."

"Consider her opinion as well. You're her friend. How would she feel if you refused her aid, then died because you couldn't defend yourself? You have to think of the other person's position sometimes." In his mind Sapphire compared his last line with the argument he'd been having with Noct and internally sighed, deciding he would head to the arena to talk it out with him after this. But first, he would have to convince Jaune.

"Jaune. Pyrrha is offering you aid. It doesn't make you weak to take it."

Jaune looked at him, then Pyrrha, who was sending him the most pleading look she could. Sapphire personally thought it was overkill, but if she thought it would help convince him then hey, she knew him better. "I… okay." He smiled awkwardly at her, rubbing his arm. "Sorry, Pyrrha, for refusing before."

She smiled brightly, and holy crap Sapphire almost felt blinded from the sheer joy radiating from her. "It is no problem, Jaune. I'm just glad you decided to accept. And thank you, Sapphire."

"It's no problem. Jaune, I don't know you that well, and I haven't seen you in enough fights so I don't know personally, but if Pyrrha, your friends, and the teachers think you have potential, then I won't argue with them. Also, do you really think you snuck in? Ozpin is smart as hell, and Professor Goodwitch probably looks over documents a dozen times before approving them, there's no way neither of them was fooled by your fake transcripts, which just means they think you have potential too."

Jaune chuckled, embarrassed. "I guess you're right in that way too. And thanks from me too. I probably almost made the worst mistake of my life." Sapphire shrugged in response, and Jaune held out a fist. Sapphire looked at it for a moment, before sighing and fist-bumping him.

"Alright. I've got my own argument to sort out. I'll see you both tomorrow in class." He waved over his shoulder and heard their calls of goodbye and goodnight. As he exited the rooftop, he heard them talk on the training they would doing and the schedule.

Sapphire let a small smile form, before shaking his head. Refusing aid, wanting to do it all on his own… reminded him of himself, when he was supposed to begin training. Then… sapphire sighed. He supposed that was why he'd helped. He didn't want to see Jaune go through what he had, just to get it through his thick skull that people helping you didn't make you weak. Now, to go find Noct.

* * *

 **Welp, that's it. I think the weapons I've thought up fit the character's pretty well, but if you can think of anything that should be changed or different I'll definitely think it over. Well, Noct's weapon is more meme than anything, but I feel like it fits kinda well. I also know what they'll be calling their weapons, but you can suggest names and I'll look at them, and might choose one if I like it. And if anyone can guess what Anthony's thinking of doing with his crossbow, they get** _ **Style Points.**_

 **Also, since we never really get country names in pokemon, I just assume that any country a region is in has the same name as our world, like Kanto and Johto being in Japan and Unova being analogous to Manhattan, while Regions like Kalos which are _literally France,_ well, since the region is the entire country, I assume the name of the country is also name of the region. So the Kalos region slash the country of Kalos. **

**Revealed pokémon so far:**

 **Sapphire's team**

 **-Lucario - partner**

 **-Zorua**

 **-Solgaleo/Necrozma**

 **Anthony's team**

 **-Ampharos - partner**

 **-Plusle**

 **-Minun**

 **Noct's team  
** **  
-Hydreigon the insane - partner**

 **-Houndoom**

 **Willow's team**

 **-Roserade - partner**

 **-Beedrill**


	6. Chapter 6: Into the Fall

**Sorry that it has been a while, but school and stuff slowed me down. Don't worry, No matter how long it takes I _will_ finish all my stories. I won't be giving up on any of 'em!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Into the Fall

Noct grinned and dodged a practice bolt, before raising his hands to block another. Across the arena, Anthony fumbled with his weapon as he tried to switch out the magazines, trying to fit a new magazine with practice bolts into the slot, and failing to do so right away. Noct saw this as his chance and bolted forward, cocking his gauntlets.

His first tests with them had gone wonderfully, the ranged grenade launcher aspect worked perfectly, and the ability to increase his speed and momentum or even just add an explosive… kick was the best word, even if he was punching, was awesome! And during the tests, Sapphire had come in and begrudgingly apologized, agreeing to talk.

After a few minutes, Sapphire had agreed to let him keep the gauntlets after he'd proved he could use them effectively. Of course, what Sapphire hadn't known until he'd told him, was that he'd also asked Yang to train him in some hand-to-hand. After figuring out what weapons he wanted he'd gone to find Yang for extra training. A quick practice bout with Sapphire to show that he was slightly more skilled and Sapphire allowed him to keep them. Well, even if he hadn't he would have kept them anyway, but at least they weren't fighting now.

Now, about a week later, he was having a practice bout with Anthony as Sapphire and Willow watched. Everyone was using some kind of safety, Willow's rifle had rubber bullets, Anthony had blunted practice bolts, and he had paintballs. They all stung like hell, but wouldn't do any lasting damage.

Either way, Noct closed in on Anthony who was now backing up in panic and reared back feeling a massive grin spread across his face. "ORA!" He slammed a fist into Anthony, sending him skidding back, before throwing several more punches. "ORAORAORA-"

Before he could land the final blow, Sapphire appeared and blocked his hit. "Alright, he's had enough. And your yelling is annoying."

"You just can't take a good JoJoke," he pouted. He looked over Sapphire's shoulder to see Anthony lying on the ground groaning, with splotches of paint on his training clothes. "Sorry 'bout that."

"I hurt everywhere…"

Sapphire visibly rolled his eyes and motioned for him to take Anthony back to the benches. "Willow, you're up." She nodded and walked past him as he grabbed Anthony and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him back to the benches.

"So, having fun with your crossbow?"

Anthony groaned as he sat down, rooting around in his bag. "It's certainly an interesting weapon. Though I'm still not very skilled with the hatchet part, but at least the Crossbow is easy. Point and shoot, right?" He eventually found what he was looking for, and pulled out a pokéball.

"I guess. I mean, my grenades have arcs, so I've got to train myself to aim with the arcs."

"Hm." Anthony clicked the button and released the pokémon inside, causing a pink bipedal pokémon to pop out. Noct blinked when he realized it was an Audino, before remembering that most pokémon doctors or nurses had some form of helper pokémon, like Blissey, Chancy, or Audino.

" _Oh dear, Anthony, you look terrible!"_

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad…"

"Yeah, Blondike Bar isn't as handsome as me, but I'd rate him… eh, five or six out of ten." He grinned at their incredulous looks. "Hey, I might rate you higher, but I ain't into you, get your minds out of the gutter."

Audino shook her head as she giggled. " _You certainly find strange companions Anthony."_

"Heh, yeah." He scratched the back of his head, grinning lopsidedly, as Audino began using Heal Pulse on him. "I'm glad you all can hear things from inside pokéballs, I wouldn't want to have to explain the whole other world thing…" he looked like he was counting inside his head, "twenty-two times."

"Wonder how they do that. Or how y'all even fit inside the things…"

"Oh, it's quite simple really, you see, some of the core programming in a pokéball…" Noct quickly tuned him out. The battle between Sapphire and Willow was much more interesting. Sapphire could have taken her easily at close-range, so he was staying at a distance to give her more of a chance. Somehow, he was reacting quick enough that every bullet she fired he would either dodge or deflect with his staff.

Sometimes he would focus that weird aura stuff in his hands, and blast orbs of it at Willow. She dodged most of them, although pretty clumsily, but the few that did hit didn't do much. Noct guessed that Sapphire was toning down their power.

Eventually, Willow had to reload, and just like himself, Sapphire took the opportunity, closing in and swinging at Willow. Unlike Anthony, she was able to back off quick enough, and shift her weapon back into pike form. She swung it at him and he swiftly dodged, before bringing his staff around and blocking the next strike.

Now, Noct had no idea how to fight with a weapon, which was why he wanted gauntlets, they seemed easy enough, but even he could tell the difference in skill levels between Sapphire and Willow. He'd watched a lot more battle anime's than most people though, and he could see Willow visibly thinking about how to attack next, while Sapphire flowed smoothly from one attack to the next.

Willow swung again and Sapphire backed away, the blade part of the pike slashing through the air. Noct held his chin as Sapphire ducked around the bladed part again. He remembered Anthony's words from the forge about a week ago, about how Sapphire didn't like blades. 'Might have to ask him about that when I get the chance…'

Sapphire finally ended it by slapping aside the shaft of her weapon with his own, and slamming her to the ground, before placing a foot on her stomach and the end of his staff at her throat. "Give up?" She nodded, and he helped her up. "Well done, you're getting better. You've been training with Pyrrha as I suggested?"

"Yeah, when she isn't training Jaune, or is doing something else of course."

Noct snorted. "Those two should just f-"

"Virgin ears!" Anthony cried, covering his ears.

"What? I was going to say they should find someplace to go on a date already."

"…oh."

"And then have sex!"

"DISGUSTING!" Willow giggled at Anthony's reaction, while Sapphire sighed.

"Classy, Noct." He crossed his arms, tossing his head to move some hair out of his eyes. "Anyway, are we all ready for the trip into Vale soon?"

"Don't know how we'd have to get ready, it's literally just a trip into Vale."

"I don't know, maybe having a change of clothes that you didn't wear in any of those videos? We can't do anything about our faces but we can at least _try."_

Audino finished healing Anthony and turned to Willow. " _Would you like me to heal you too?"_

"Oh, yes, thank you!"

Noct watched and raised an eyebrow, before turning back to Sapphire. "Whatever, Blue, I think I've got some different clothes in my bag."

"If you don't, I probably have some in my wardrobe."

"…you mean your bag?"

"What's the difference?"

* * *

"Uh…" Jaune blinked as the door to the trainers' room opened, and Anthony looked out with a haunted expression. "You alright?"

"Physics… I…" Jaune looked over Anthony's shoulder and quickly noticed what was confusing him. Sapphire's space defying bag was on the ground, while a rope was coming out the top, coiled around a makeshift hook, and held by Noct, who was using one of the beds to anchor himself. Willow was looking down into the bag, and then Sapphire's voice echoed out of the bag.

"Lower! Just a bit more!" Noct let the rope go slack, letting it spill for a second, before catching it again. There was grunt from the bag, before shouting. "Dammit, not that fast!"

"Uhh…"

"It defies…" Anthony let go of the door and slumped over to his bed, watching the bag with dead eyes.

"Well…" Jaune tried to think of some way to cheer him up. "You already knew it was… some kind of… magic bag?" The blond's brain only seemed to fizzle more.

"Alright, I'm at the wardrobe, uncoupling myself!" There was a thud, and Noct leaned back, the rope going slack. Jaune walked forward, shutting the door behind him, and looked down into the bag before blinking and looking away because of the vertigo that slammed into his mind. Instead, he looked around the room. The room seemed to have been cordoned into quarters, although not with walls or anything like that. Around Anthony's bed were several textbooks and journals that all had something to do with medicine, Noct's bed had posters of animated shows and video games, Willow had several books that looked more like fiction than textbooks, as well as a few that looked a bit dirtier in their content, while Sapphire's bed was spartan in appearance. Besides the pully and winch above it.

Jaune looked back at the bag as Sapphire's voice echoed out again, "Anyone have any preferences for clothing!?"

Anthony shook his head. "I'm fine with anything."

Willow tilted her head, even though Sapphire couldn't see it. "Do you have clothes for girls?"

"From the day we met you've been wearing jeans and tank tops! And no!"

"Fair."

Noct leaned over the hole, "Leather, black and silver in color."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Now that sounds wrong on several levels."

"If you're making inappropriate comments up there I will climb back up and slap somebody!"

"You only hate inappropriate comments because you're a VIRGIN!"

Anthony groaned from his bed. "When did our life turn from rated T to rated M?"

Noct shrugged. "I'm pretty sure making dirty jokes is still rated teen."

"So, why do you need the bungee jumping equipment to get to your wardrobe when you usually just reach in and grab your normal Guardian clothes or whatever?" Willow asked, folding one leg other the other.

"Because I always wear those clothes, unless they're damaged or dirty, and I usually fix or clean them quickly if that happens! My actual wardrobe is rarely used, unless I need to be subtle or undercover!"

"I still can't connect the word 'subtle' with the person named Sapphire," Noct smirked as he shook his head.

"You want the clothes or not?!"

Jaune looked back and forth, unable to keep up with the banter. "Uh, should I come back another time?"

Noct shrugged. "Eh, depends on what you came by for."

"It's… something that only Sapphire knows about. And Pyrrha, I guess."

"Oooh, secrets! Tell me everything!"

"Uh…"

The eye roll from Sapphire at the bottom of the bag was audible. "They're assholes, but I don't think they'd betray an acquaintance."

"Nah, Vomit Boy's a friend! You don't betray friends!" Noct grinned and threw an arm around his shoulder, even as he groaned.

"How did you find out about that nickname already?"

"Eh, training with Yang."

"Oh…" Jaune thought for a moment, before sighing. "So, long story, but… essentially I cheated my way into Beacon." Noct whistled.

"Damn, how'd you accomplish that one?"

"Uh, I got some fake transcripts, but Sapphire thinks that Ozpin and Glynda know and let me in anyway."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, I don't think much would get by Goodwitch."

"Anyway, I was having an argument with Pyrrha on the rooftop about training and Sapphire overheard, and he talked me into Pyrrha training me."

"Alright…"

"But, apparently, Team CRDL's dorm is right underneath the roof, and they heard the argument. Cardin cut me off the day after and… well, he's blackmailed me into doing his work for him."

Noct narrowed his eyes and cracked his knuckles. "Want me to get Absol out again?"

"No, no! It's…" he sighed. " we're assuming that the professors _do_ know that I faked my transcripts, but what if they somehow don't? What if I do get kicked out of Beacon?!"

"Uh, well…" Noct bit his lip, thinking. "We could talk with them?"

"No, that wouldn't… ugh, even when I'm going to others for help, everything goes wrong!" He shot up and threw his hands up, pacing the room.

"Remember what I said in the cafeteria?" Jaune turned towards the bag. Sapphire had to shout to be heard, so he walked closer. "If we were to take care of your problem for you, then they'll either double down on their harassment or just go straight to the professors. This is something you have to do on your own."

"But you told me I should also rely on others, and, and the whole people need trainers thing!"

"Yes, but sometimes you have to work on your own too." There was a sigh from the bag, and Jaune clenched his fists. "I know it can be annoying, and it can sound stupid, but sometimes you have to know when a situation requires you to do something on your own, and when you need help. If you're the leader of your team, then you need to know what battles to pick. Being a leader isn't just about strategy either, it can also be about rallying your team through dark times, yourself included. I know how frustrating it can be, when do I work alone? When do I need someone else? But in the end, that's part of what being a leader is about, knowing which decision to make."

Noct leaned over and whispered loudly to Anthony, "Looks like someone's retconning their own advice."

Willow nodded, "Indeed, someone talked themselves into a corner and is trying to talk their way back out after giving some bad advice."

"You want to come down here and say that to my face?! I don't hear you giving good advice!"

Jaune unclenched his fists and looked away as tey argued. "I…" he stopped when his scroll buzzed, and he opened it. A quick voice file from Cardin played, something about gathering Rapier Wasps.

"Rapier Wasps? Those sound fun."

"What was that? I couldn't hear from down here!"

"It was… Cardin. He needs something from me."

"Alright. Just remember this talk Jaune. No matter if the teachers know or don't know about your fake transcripts, they made you a leader for a reason."

Noct nodded and motioned for Anthony to toss him a book. When he did, he chucked down the bag, grinning when he heard an 'ow!' "Needed to lighten the mood a bit. Come on Jaune, we're all friends here, even Sapphire, loathe he may be to admit he has human emotions. How about we go and get some food, then you can decide what you want to do."

"...Sure." Jaune smiled.

"Hey? Hey! HEY! Are you leaving me down here?!"

"You wouldn't eat with us anyway, see you later!" Noct yelled back, moving for the door.

"Umbra, I swear to Arceus I'll skin you alive when I get out of here! Umbra?! UMBRA!" Noct snickered as he led them out of the dorm, arm wrapped around Anthony to prevent him from going back, and Willow and himself right behind him.

* * *

"Yes, students, the Forever Fall forest is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee." Willow nodded. She remembered how dangerous the forest was their first night there. "Professor Peach asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside the forest, and I am here to make sure none of you die while doing so."

Professor Goodwitch turned, looking back at the multitude of students behind her, and Willow switched her attention from the trees to her. "Because of an… incident a few weeks ago, Grimm activity in the Forever Fall is slightly higher than normal, so several teams will be assisting me in guard duty. Several teams will be gathering samples while the others guard, and then switch. Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap, we will rendezvous back here at four o'clock, so keep track of time."

"All right, let's do this thing!" Noct immediately ran into the forest and tripped over a tree root.

"Oh boy," Sapphire sighed.

Several minutes later, and she was sitting on a tree branch, watching over the area. Their team, or team PKMN as Noct had called them jokingly, which surprisingly stuck, was guarding an area near teams RWBY and JNPR. Several Grimm had already shown up, but Sapphire and Anthony had taken care of most of them, as their weapons were the quietest, and they didn't want to attract extra Grimm.

Sapphire was currently pulling his staff from the head of a Beowolf, spinning it and re-holstering it. "Willow, see any more?"

Willow brought her rifle up, still thinking of a name for it, and put her eye to the scope. She had to mentally remind herself about placing the stock to her shoulder and positioning the scope just right. Sapphire had shown her a video of someone losing their eye because they hadn't respected their gun and the recoil from firing it injured their eye. She did _not_ want to lose her eye.

She spotted several more Beowolves to the north and pointed them out to Sapphire. Of course, the only reason she knew it was north was because of the odd compass that Ruby had managed to integrate into the scope. Seriously, how many features did that girl put into this thing? As Sapphire went off to take them out, Noct leaned down from a branch above her. "I'mmm BOOOOORRRREEEDDDDUUHH."

She rolled her eyes, "You're supposed to be on lookout."

"Why can't I go out and beat up some soulless wolves?"

"Because your weapons are too loud. You'd attract every single Grimm in the forest."

"Psh, then I'd beat them up without Blazing Comet!"

"...What?"

"Oh, that's their name." He cocked his gauntlets, two grenades being loaded. "Figured it fit. With each hit my fists are like comets, and it sounds pretty cool as well. One gauntlet is Blaze, the other is Comet, together, Blazing Comet!"

"That is the lamest name I've ever heard. And thing. 'With each hit my fists are like comets?' What are you, a dramatic anime character?"

"Yeah, well when you come up with something better, _then_ you can critique me!" He hummed and rubbed his chin. "Or does Killer Queen sound better?"

"I feel like that's a reference to something, and Sapphire will punch you if you try calling it that."

"Hey, it would still be funny."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Either way, I don't think you're taking out a seven to eight-foot tall werewolf with just your fists."

"Psh, I could do it easily."

"Uh huh."

"Do you doubt me?"

"Yes. very much so."

A sudden howling drew their attention, and they both shot their heads in the direction it came from. "Damn it Blue, look at what you've done!"

"That wasn't me!"

Willow sighed. "Well, might as well go check it out." Willow was a bit disappointed, byplay with Noct was always fun, but now she got to test her weapon! Hm, maybe Nature's Wrath? She slapped herself. "No, that's even lamer than Blazing Comet."

"Hey there RWBY!" Willow looked to see that Noct was waving over Team RWBY, who was closely followed by Team JNPR. Well, more like Team NPR, considering Jaune wasn't there.

Sapphire quickly noticed that and turned to Pyrrha. "Where's Jaune?"

She shook her head, "We're not sure. When we started to gather sap he said he had to… um…"

"He had to pee!"

"Yes, thank you Nora, and then he disappeared. We were just beginning to talk about going after him since he's been gone so long before we heard the howling."

"Hopefully he's not in any danger," Anthony said worriedly.

"Heads up!" Yang uppercut a Beowolf that was sprinting at the three teams, blasting it apart. "We'll find him, don't you worry!" She winked at Pyrrha, "maybe he'll even give his savior a kiss!"

As Pyrrha blushed and tried to think up a response, three members of Team CRDL burst from the bushes, specifically Russell, Dove, and Sky. An odd thing that Willow noted was that Russel seemed to have several sting marks on his body like some bees had stung him, while Dove had a broken nose.

Before they could run off into a random direction and get killed by some Grimm, Sapphire had tripped Dove and Sky and gripped Russell by the collar. "I don't like you, but I'm not having you run directly into any more Grimm. Go that way, the other teams and Professor Goodwitch are in that general area, and probably on guard from the howling. And calm down, you'll just attract more Grimm."

Ren narrowed his eyes, "Wait. Where is Cardin?"

Russell finally spoke up, "B-B-Big Ursa! It took down Cardin and Jaune!"

Willow felt her eyes widen, "We have to save them!"

Willow saw Sapphire narrow his eyes and let him go. "Get to Professor Goodwitch, and send her immediately, we'll get Cardin and Jaune!" The three teammates rushed off, and he turned to everyone else. "Let's get moving!"

* * *

Several minutes earlier, Jaune found himself in a slight dilemma. After having him gather sap, which he was pretty sure he was allergic to, he was now listening to Carson's plan of getting revenge on Pyrrha. Although it was a bit hard to focus through his stuffy nose, he got the gist of it.

The only things he couldn't understand were, one, why they were going after Pyrrha, and two, why they thought some wasps would hurt her. Surely she could just ignite some fire dust and burn them all to a crisp? Or maybe he was just so allergic to the stuff that his brain was short-circuiting.

Suddenly, the jar of sap was shoved into his hands. "…and _you're_ the one who'll throw it at her."

"W-what?"

"Well? Get to it Jauney-boy!" He was shoved forward, and he almost fell, before he caught himself. Down below them was his team, along with RWBY, with Pyrrha filling a jar with sap. For the past few days, he'd been able to come up with several excuses on why he was disappearing so much as he tried to figure out what to do about the situation with Team CRDL, so luckily they weren't too worried, but…

"Come on Jaune, or do you want me to have a chat with Goodwitch?" Jaune squeezed his eyes shut and wound up, the jar of sap feeling heavier than it should have been, before…

"No."

"No?"

Sapphire was right. It was hard to figure out when he needed to do things on his own, and when he needed help. Right now… he had to do this himself. He wouldn't let them hurt his team. If he got his team involved, then Cardin would just tell Professor Goodwitch about his transcripts, although probably after he got out of the hospital from what Nora and Pyrrha would do to him. If he could take them out himself, then maybe, and that was a _very_ slim maybe, they would have enough respect for him to not get him kicked out.

And if not? At least he wouldn't let them hurt his team. He turned, and his eyes shot to the boy with the Mohawk. Russell? He was the one with the Rapier Wasps. He wound up and threw the jar, letting it smash into Russell. "I said NO!"

Russell instinctively dropped the box so he could protect his face, but in doing so the box opened when it slammed into the ground, releasing dozens of wasps into the air. Russell immediately fell back, having not activated his aura and swarmed by the Wasps.

Jaune ran forward and unsheathed Crocea Mors, swinging his sword so that the flat end of the blade impacted with Dove's face, throwing him into the ground where he held what looked to be his broken nose. Sky reacted in time and brought up his Halberd as well as his aura, and managed to deflect Jaune's attack, before swinging his Halberd back at him.

Jaune deflected the attack with his shield, a screech of metal sounding out, before he stepped in close, remembering some of Pyrrha's first words of advice. Halberds, Spears, and other weapons with long reaches were much less useful when you got inside their guard. He slammed his shield upwards, hitting Sky's chin with the top of it and throwing him back a step before he pulled back and slammed the hilt of Crocea Mors into his nose. Sky fell back and held his nose, his aura not yet broken, but still feeling the pain.

Suddenly Jaune was thrown to the side, and he tumbled end over end as he felt pain shoot through him. He looked up to see that Cardin had slammed his mace into him from behind, and was now approaching him. "Now that wasn't very smart of you, Jauney-boy!" Cardin charged him, raising his mace high to smash him to paste.

Jaune narrowed his eyes and rolled under him, swinging his sword up and scraping it along the back of Carson's armor, whittling down his aura. Cardin turned much quicker than he anticipated, and stars blossomed across his vision as his mace slammed into his head, throwing him back where he rolled across the ground.

He groaned and reached into his pocket, fumbling with his scroll until it turned on. His aura had taken a dip, though it still hurt like hell. He guessed that Pyrrha was right, he did have a lot of aura, if he was able to take a hit like that and still be in the green. He stood back up, falling into the stance that Pyrrha had shown him. "Well? Come at me, Cardin!"

Cardin narrowed his eyes at him, before yelling and charging, his macehead visibly switching colors to an angry red as it was powered up with fire dust. Instead of blocking it, he rolled to the side, knowing that trying to tank the blow would just injure him more. Unluckily, the mace exploded when it hit the ground, sending a shockwave of fire out and tossing Jaune onto the ground once again.

As he tried to get up, Cardin grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragging him to his feet. "Now, I'm not just gonna get you sent home, I'm gonna make sure you're sent him in tiny little pieces!"

Jaune just let out a breathless laugh and looked at him with an uncaring grin. "You can do whatever you want to me Cardin. But you do not touch my friends!" As Cardin growled, Jaune pulled back and punched him in the face, yelling. There was a brief flash of light, and suddenly he was on the ground again. "Wha-?" Jaune looked at his hands to see them glow briefly, and looked up to see Cardin stumbling back, a bruise forming.

He grabbed Crocea Mors and got up, even as the rest of Carson's team backed Cardin up. "You're really pissing me off now Jauney!"

He narrowed his eyes, but before he could respond a howl sounded out. Team CRDL turned around, and Jaune watched with shock as several beowolves began sprinting out of the forest followed by the biggest Ursa he'd seen yet. "They must have been attracted to our negativity!"

Sky, Dove, and Russell immediately ran, while Cardin tried to stand his ground. He brought his mace forward but was immediately batted aside with ease by the Ursa. Jaune watched as Cardin tumbled end over end, before coming to a rest. The Ursa approached him and brought his claws up… before suddenly he was between them, raising his shield in defense. "Oh crap, what am I doing, what am I doing, what am I doing?!" He brought his sword around and managed to slice into the Ursa's unprotected stomach before shield bashing it away.

The Ursa stumbled back, and several beowolves leaped forward to take a shot at the him. Jaune looked down and saw Cardin's mace, and kicked it over to him. "What?"

"Get up and help me, unless you want to be Beowolf chow!" Jaune wanted to pretend that he said that confidently, but he was pretty sure he heard his voice crack somewhere in there. The first Beowolf that got to him tried clawing him in two, but he ducked under the strike and cut its arm off, before slicing it in two. Two more came from the side and he shielded the first one's attack, before bashing it into the second, thrusting Crocea Mors through its stomach. The second Beowolf tried to push the corpse of the first off of itself, but he put an end to that by slicing into its legs, then its head.

A fourth beowolf came up from behind, but as he turned to deal with it, Cardin slammed his mace into its stomach, causing it to fold into itself before he brought his mace down from above to crush it. Several more followed, but Cardin just yelled and charged them.

Seeing how Cardin had the beowolves, Jaune turned back to the Ursa. It was getting back up and roared at him, causing him to gulp with fear before he yelled and ran at it. It tried to swipe at him, which he quickly rolled underneath before slicing into its leg. It fell to its knees and roared, before Jaune managed to bring Crocea Mors down on its arm, cutting it off.

The Ursa fell, unbalanced, and tried ineffectually to get back up and swipe at him. He was easily able to dodge, and shielded the next hit, before rolling under the third. He yelled as he got up, now being directly underneath the Ursa, and thrust Crocea Mors directly into the underside of the Ursa's head.

He heard a crack as his blade erupted through the skull helmet it had, and he grinned. This quickly turned to despair. "Oh crap." The Ursa fell on top of him, crushing him beneath its dead weight. Almost immediately it began disintegrating, but not fast enough. Several more Beowolves were running at him, and he wasn't going to be able to get out in time. "Crap, crap, crap!"

Before the first could get to him, he heard a loud yell from the tree line. "Killer Queen has already touched the Grimm!" Several grenades slammed into the Beowolves, completely obliterating them before Noct was launched out of the treeline, landing on one of the Beowolves and slamming his fists into it. "WOOHOO!"

"Noct, stop making stupid references in the middle of a battle!" Jaune saw Sapphire speed out right behind Noct, launching himself at several beowolves and tearing them apart. Jaune saw Sapphire notice him, trapped underneath the disintegrating Ursa, and turned to the others. "Yang, Nora, get him out of there!"

"On it!" Yang and Nora diverted towards him and came to a stop. "Damn, Vomit Boy, you do this yourself?"

"Yes, now can you get me out of here?"

"You got it, fearless leader!" Nora and Yang combined their strength and easily threw the Ursa off of him, before helping him up. He shook himself off, before grabbing Crocea Mors.

"All right, let's finish them off!"

Yang smirked at him as she cocked Ember Celica. "When did you get so confident Vomit Boy? Whatever, let's pound some Grimm!"

Several Beowolves and a couple of Ursa charged at them, roaring. As the three got ready to fight back, several vines burst from the ground, entangling the Grimm and holding them still. Several shots then rang out, and the Grimm suddenly had some new holes in their heads.

Jaune turned around to see Willow sitting on a tree branch, rifle in hand as she sniped at the Grimm. Next to her, an odd quadrupedal pokémon jumped down, running up. "Leafeon!"

"Aww!" Yang bent down and began petting the odd Pokémon. It was tan, with several green leaves coming out of its body, almost like it was a fusion of plant and animal. Nora was just tickling a leaf, gushing over its cuteness.

"Yang, Nora, maybe we should pet the Pokémon later when we aren't surrounded by Grimm…"

Yang pouted at him, before sighing. "All right, all right."

"Leafeon!" The… Leafeon? He remembered the trainers talking about how most pokémon were named after whatever they said, so he guessed this one was called Leafeon, flicked its tail, and several vines burst from the ground, entangling with more Grimm. "Eon, Leaf!" The pokémon opened its mouth wide and green energy built up before a beam of energy cut through several beowolves.

"Well, that's useful." Jaune leaped forward and began cutting into the Grimm, as Yang began punching them and Nora smashed them. When another Ursa began approaching, he readied himself, before Pyrrha was suddenly there, cutting it into ribbons.

She turned to him and smiled, "I see you're putting our training to good use."

"Heh, uh, yeah, guess so!" Jaune smiled at her, a feeling of pride swelling in his chest.

"Perhaps you should compliment each other later, and focus on the battle at hand." Sapphire rushed by and slammed a glowing fist into an Ursa, causing it to glow before exploding from the inside. As Jaune blushed, he saw Sapphire turn back with a slight smirk. "Well done with the Ursa by the way. I'd suggest going to see Anthony by the trees, we can handle the rest of the Grimm."

He nodded and walked away, keeping Crocea Mors our just in case. When he neared Anthony, who was by the tree Willow was sniping from, he was waved over and told to sit down. "How badly are you injured?"

"It's not that bad. A few bruises and my aura is still in the green. Well, barely anyway."

Anthony nodded and reached into his bag, pulling out a syringe. "Back home we have many different kinds of berries. While they are very nutritional, many have medicinal purposes as well. This is a mix of Leppa and Oran berries, it will help you recover your stamina and help with your healing. Although I don't have anything for aura yet, I'm still experimenting with that." Jaune noticed that Anthony was talking much more confidently, probably because medicine and healing were what he was best at.

Jaune held out an arm and disabled his aura so that the syringe could puncture him without breaking. Anthony pressed down on the plunger, and Jaune felt a sudden burst of energy flow through his arm, then his body. "Whoa!"

"Indeed!" Anthony then brought out his crossbow and rooted around in his bag. "Of course, as a doctor, I also know which berries have special effects. Such as the Cheri berry being able to cure paralysis. But if you manage to mix them with the correct combination of other berries…" Anthony brought up his crossbow and aimed down the sights. When he fired, instead of a crossbow bolt, a syringe flew out and sailed across the battlefield. It impacted with a Beowolf that was sneaking up on Noct in the middle of beating down another Beowolf, and the affected Beowolf quickly collapsed, yellow sparks dancing and flying from their fur.

"I now have a syringe gun!" Anthony grinned and aimed again, firing at another Grimm.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Anthony seemed to realize he was showing off, and blushed, quickly falling silent. "Well, you know, it's not that cool, I'm sure others have thought of doing something similar…" Anthony fired again, sending a small Nevermore slamming into the dirt, paralyzed. "WHOO!" He cleared his throat. "Er, I mean-"

"Grimm!" Jaune turned at the yell and cut down the beowolf that was flanking them.

"Thanks."

There was an explosion and Jaune watched as Noct and Nora cheered as they fired a barrage of grenades at Grimm. "Yes! DIE!"

"That is not a safe combination of human beings," Jaune muttered. Anthony murmured his agreement. Suddenly, every Grimm began floating into the air, before they each slammed down into the ground, crushed flat. "Huh."

Professor Goodwitch walked out of the tree line, several teams following her and mopping up any remaining Grimm. "Well that takes care of that," Willow said as she climbed down.

"Yeah," Jaune said. He looked towards Cardin to see his team gathering around him, and quickly approached them. Cardin turned to see him coming and looked away, before sighing and approaching him as well.

"Jaune, the thing with the Ursa, and-"

"Cardin, Don't ever mess with my... my friends, ever again." Cardin just nodded, and there seemed to be a glimmer of respect in his eyes.

He walked away, and his team looked over as he approached. "What was that about?" Pyrrha asked.

"Nothing," Jaune said, smiling. "Just an agreement. Let's get back to Beacon."

* * *

 **Jaune is my favorite character, but I do think Rooster Teeth handles his character pretty poorly in his Arc. I tried to do a little bit of fixing with that, but I don't know how well I did. Hopefully, I did all right with it. I hope to fix a few more things too, Adam, Ruby, etc.**

 **So one name is revealed for their weapons, being Blazing Comet for Noct's. The others either haven't decided on a name or, like Willow, just think their name is lame. Even though I have decided on names, you're free to leave a name in the reviews and I'll think about it. Don't worry, as much as Noct memes, he isn't naming his weapons KILLAH QUEEN. Or Deadly Queen, whatever.**

 **And of course, Wiltarrow now gets their** _ **Style Points**_ **for guessing what Anthony was planning to do with his crossbow. Who doesn't want to be able to shoot syringes at people? I'll be honest, I knew there was a Crossbow that shot syringes in** _ **some**_ **game, which is what gave me the idea for the weapon in the first place, but I couldn't think of it at the time. Apparently, it was the Crusader's Crossbow from TF2. Neat.**

 **We get two more Pokémon this chapter, Willow's Leafeon and Anthony's Audino. So now all of Anthony's four pokémon are revealed, while everyone else only has three of their six shown.**

 **Revealed pokémon so far:**

 **Sapphire's team  
** **  
-Lucario - partner**

 **-Zorua**

 **-Solgaleo/Necrozma**

 **Anthony's team  
** **  
-Ampharos - partner**

 **-Plusle**

 **-Minun**

 **-Audino**

 **Noct's team  
** **  
-Hydreigon - partner**

 **-Absol**

 **-Houndoom**

 **Willow's team  
** **  
-Roserade - partner**

 **-Beedrill**

 **-Leafeon**


	7. Chapter 7: A Lost Kitten

Worlds Apart Chapter Seven: A Lost Kitten

Sapphire adjusted his hoodie, clearly uncomfortable with it. He'd been wearing his Guardian Raiments for years, regular clothes were just weird at this point. Noct eventually slapped his hand away from his collar, rolling his eyes. "Stop, I'm pretty sure that hoodie is more comfortable than that vest you wear by, like, a thousand times."

Sapphire glared at him in response, shrugging away his hand. "It may be comfortable, but I'm not used to it."

"Get used to it, you want to go out into Vale more then you'll need to be in disguise," he suddenly struck a pose, "and incognito!"

The party of seven, minus Noct of course, looked at him, and Sapphire sighed. "We have very different definitions of incognito." He turned to the natives of Vale- or more specifically Remnant, since all of them weren't from Vale itself, and asked: "where are we going next, anyway?"

"We should hit the club scene!"

"Firstly, it's the early afternoon," Sapphire pointed up at the sun that was near the center of the sky. "And second, I don't like clubs."

"Ugh, you're such a stick in the mud! You're as bad as Weiss-Cream!"

"Hey!"

Sapphire rolled his eyes. "Fine, two, Anthony is too innocent for clubs."

"I will not deny this," Anthony deadpanned.

"Yeah, Sapphire is totally the mean dad of the team, Noct nodded. "Momma Willow, Daddy Sapphire is being mean! Can we go to the club?"

"Say no."

"Mommy would prefer some peace and quiet, darling, stop bothering your father," she smirked. Noct just groaned in response, and Ruby giggled as she patted him on the back.

"I know a bookstore nearby," Blake spoke up, "we can check it out on the way back to Beacon."

"Oh, that would be lovely!"

"Ugh, of course both of our teams would have a book nerd," Yang rolled her eyes. "Hm… but who would be the strict mom of the team…?" Her eyes drifted to Weiss, and she, Blake and Ruby all nodded.

"Wha-! I am not strict! Just very professional!"

"Yeah, we totally believe you," Noct snickered. He high fived Yang, causing Weiss to cross her arms and glare, while Sapphire rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't even mind being considered your dad if that meant you actually did what I told you to do sometimes _._ " He drily responded, making sure to stress the last part of the sentence.

"Yeah, well, that's just no fun," Noct waved a hand. "You gotta be rebellious! Right, Blondike Bar?"

"I am quite possibly the least rebellious person here, maybe besides Sapphire."

"My training was incredibly strict, my father didn't even need to think up a punishment if I did something worth punishing, I had every reason in the world to _not_ be rebellious."

"Your dad sounds like he was a drill sergeant," Ruby giggled.

"Felt like it," he muttered.

"Anyway," Yang interrupted, clapping her hands, "let's get back on track! Where're we going next?"

As everyone began discussing, Anthony looked around the street to see people putting up decorations. "What's with all the decorations? Some kind of holiday?"

Suddenly, Weiss was in his face and he fell back a step. "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about the Vytal Festival! Well, allow me to educate you!"

"Uh…"

Ruby leaned over to Sapphire, "is it creepy to you that she's smiling so much?"

"Basic human emotions creep me out," He deadpanned. She quickly elbowed him in response.

"The Vytal Festival is a celebration of peace and a show of the cultures of the world, to show unity after the great war. It's held every two years…" Sapphire quickly tuned her out but kept one ear open for any information that could be useful. The historical aspect could be interesting, but wouldn't have anything that could benefit them. He did metaphorically perk up, metaphorically as in he showed no difference in stance, walk speed, or expression as when he was only half listening, when she mentioned the tournament.

"Tournament?"

Suddenly, Ruby. "Yeah, it's awesome! I watched the tournaments all the time growing up! The first round is full team-on-team, then two-on-two, then singles for the finale!"

Weiss looked slightly miffed at having been interrupted by Ruby, but she nodded along anyway. "Indeed, and the amount of planning that goes into such a large event is simply breathtaking!"

"Wow. It is… Yang, help me out."

"Amazing how she turned something exciting into something that sounds boring?"

"Yeah, that's about it."

Weiss glared at brawlers of both teams, while Sapphire sighed, both speaking at once. "Hush, you."

Noct smirked and judged Yang, "look, Papa Sapphire and Mama Weiss are getting along!"

"So sweet!" Sapphire and Weiss looked at each other, before mentally agreeing that giving them any attention would just make them worse.

"Hey, can we move away from the docks?" Anthony suddenly asked, holding his nose. Ruby nodded next to him, also holding her nose while muttering something about the smell of fish.

"Actually, I led us here for a reason!" Weiss lifted a finger in the air as everyone raised an eyebrow. "I have heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," She spun, and placed a hand on her chest, "and as a representative of Beacon I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

Blake let a small smirk creep onto her face as she crossed her arms and leaned towards the others. "She wants to spy on the students to have an advantage in the tournament."

"Hey, you can't prove that!"

"But It would be a good strategy," Sapphire shrugged, "knowing as much about your opponent as possible is always a key to victory."

"See, he understands! Guys?" The two stricter members of the teams turned to see them observing a trashed dust shop. "Oh dear." They quickly approached and heard the tail end of a conversation between Ruby and two officers.

"…probably the White Fang, but there's no way to be sure. We still need to recover the surveillance footage, unless it was destroyed of course." Well, more like the officers were talking to each other as the teams watched.

"But I wanna know why the hell they left all the money! The only thing gone is the Dust."

Sapphire folded his arms, "Only the Dust? If only a small amount is powerful enough to turn a six-foot human into a popsicle," Noct quickly laughed in the background, "then the results of an explosion from a full Dust store could be incredibly dangerous, and if several other shops…"

The other seven quickly ignored Sapphire's muttering as Weiss crossed her arms. "Of course it would be the White Fang, the criminal degenerates!"

Blake felt her eyes snap to Weiss, "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" She turned to Blake, incredulous. "I simply don't care for the criminally insane!"

Blake crossed her arms, as the rest of the teams looked at each other confused. "The White Fang are hardly a bunch of psychopaths, they're a collection of misguided faunus."

"Uh, aren't they technically, like, terrorists?" Noct tried to ask. He was ignored.

"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're _very_ misguided!"

"I think we exit the realm of misguided when they're on a campaign to kill all humans," Anthony meekly added. He was also ignored.

"Either way," Blake huffed, "it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust store in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake has a point," Ruby interjected quietly. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy from a few months ago, so it could be him…"

"That doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of rowdy terrorist scum," Weiss cut in, shaking her head.

Noct shrugged, "I mean, both of you have points. The faunus were discriminated against and began a movement for more equal rights and treatment. But when it turned violent, they did technically become terrorists. I'm leaning more towards Weiss' side with this one. Sorry, Blake."

"It's true. I'm all for helping the faunus or whatever, but when they're harming innocent people to do so they lose my sympathy," Willow added.

"Exactly," Weiss said smugly. "All the white Fang know is lying, cheating, and stealing."

Blake looked even more frustrated by what she thought was everyone teaming up against her. "Not all Faunus are criminals!"

"Hey, we never said all faunus are criminals—"

"Hey, stop that faunus!" Weiss briefly shot Blake an 'I told you so,' look, before the eight teenagers ran towards the docks. They got there just in time to see what looked to be a monkey faunus sprinting past them, quickly followed by the cops.

"Quick! After that faunus!" Weiss began chasing after the boy, followed by her team.

Sapphire just looked at his own team and raised an eyebrow. "So what now?"

"Let's follow them and see what happens!"

"Uh, no, I'm not getting into a racial debate again. I just know somebody's going to misconstrue my words one way or another."

"Yeah, I can see that happening," Anthony muttered.

"Want to explore the city some more?" Willow asked.

"Sure."

Noct turned and pointed into the distance. "Onwards! Towards adventure!"

"Someone smack him. Actually, scratch that, I'll smack him."

"No! Begone! By Arceus, I shall smite thee!"

"Whoa, look, it's those people with the weird creatures! Remember, from those videos?"

"Oh yeah!"

"And now we're being recognized. Just wonderful."

Willow snorted, sticking her hip out. "I don't know, maybe being famous could be fun."

"Hell yeah! Alright people, five dollars for a picture, ten for a video of me screaming my catchphrase!"

"You don't have a catchphrase."

"Yare yare daze Sapphire, of course I do."

"Alright, move it, I'm punching that man."

"Aw crap, Anthony, twenty bucks if you take the hit!"

Anthony spun on his heel and walked away. "Nope." Willow simply grabbed her Pokédex to record the beat down. "Now _this_ is gold."

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"Have you guys seen Team RWBY today?"

Noct paused and looked up from his lunch at Jaune. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we didn't see them in class yesterday, and there was a lot of noise coming from their dorm two nights ago, so…"

Willow looked slightly guilty and turned to him. "Do you think they had a big fight because of that stuff on Friday?"

"Perhaps," Blondike Bar shrugged.

"We should go check on them after class," he suggested, waving his fork. "What do you think, Dad?" Sapphire continued eating, so Noct flicked a pickle at him, which the serious boy caught without looking. "Yo, Dad?"

"Are you still calling me that? I thought that was a one-time thing to annoy me."

"Eh, until I get a better nickname anyway. So what do you say?"

"It's most likely a team problem. We shouldn't interfere."

"Well… that makes sense," Willow agreed. "Maybe it's something they have to work out themselves?"

"I'll work out with you in the morning for a full week if we go check it out," Noct smirked. The next thing he knew he was being dragged along the floor by the collar of his jacket. "W-wait, I was joking!"

"I'm bad at knowing what is and isn't a joke. Come on."

Jaune just sat at the table, blinking, before the rest of JNPR approached. "...what just happened?"

A few minutes later and they were at Team RWBY's dorm, with Willow and Anthony having followed to laugh at his predicament. Sapphire quickly banged on the dorm room door, before it opened to reveal Ruby looking out. "Sapphire?" She then looked down at him, holding up a peace sign. "Noct?"

"Yo."

"Howdy." Sapphire held him up. "Noct wants to know why nobody's seen you for a day or whatever."

"Basically," he nodded.

"Oh. Well. It's kind of a personal, team thing, so…" Sapphire nodded and dropped him.

"See? Now let's finish lunch."

"Hold on," Noct held up a hand. "Ridin' hood, somethings wrong. What is it?"

Ruby bit her lip and looked away. "Blake's… well, she's gone missing."

"What?" Noct's mind spun. Anthony and Willow were similarly shocked from what he could see, while Sapphire had stiffened slightly. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Weiss slammed open the door. "Blake's a part of the White Fan—" before Weiss could finish, Yang appeared and slapped her hand over Weiss' mouth.

"Hush!" She pulled Weiss back into the dorm, and Ruby motioned then inside. When they walked inside, Weiss was standing by the window with crossed arms, while Yang was sat in Blake's bed. "We don't want other people to know about this."

"What, that she's a criminal?"

Noct held up a hand. "Hold on, can we start from the beginning?"

"Noct's right, which is rare enough." Sapphire walked towards Weiss and tilted his head. "But for some reason, I feel like you are slightly biased."

"Excuse me?!" Noct saw him raise an eyebrow, and Weiss blushed as she turned away, embarrassed.

Anthony stood by Ruby, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should tell us what happened. You don't have any bias either way, right?"

She rubbed her shoulders and shrugged. "I—I guess…" she sighed. "Well, after we chased after that faunus guy on Friday, a big argument began between Weiss and Blake. It pretty much lasted all day, and that night it got especially heated in our dorm."

She looked at Yang, who continued. "Things came to a head when Weiss called all of the White Fang murderers, and Blake lashed back that they were tired of getting pushed around." She paused. "She said 'we.'"

"…" the room went silent, and Noct observed everyone. Weiss was still fuming, but Sapphire had placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm, while also looking contemplative. Ruby looked upset that she hadn't been able to mediate the fight between her team and Anthony was awkwardly patting her back while Willow watched. Noct awkwardly walked around Yang and patted her on the arm. "So, are you sure that she was a part of the White Fang?"

"Of course!" Weiss pulled away from Sapphire, "She admitted it!"

"Are you sure that she meant 'we' as in the White Fang being pushed to killing, or 'we' as in the faunus? Hell, I didn't even know she was a faunus…"

Sapphire shook his head. "I didn't know myself, and I pride myself on my observational skills, at least for combat… I noticed her bow twitching sometimes, but I assumed that was the wind or just me mis-seeing something… but yes, which did she mean?"

"The White Fang!"

"Weiss." Sapphire glared at her. "If you wish to find your teammate, then I assume you want our help. Keep interrupting, and you might as well leave." Noct felt his eyebrows raise, and saw most of the other occupants of the room looking at the boy in shock. "Yang, Ruby, which was it?"

Seeing that Ruby wouldn't answer, Yang spoke up. "Uh, well I'm not sure, but I think she meant it in the context of the White Fang."

"Hm." Sapphire crossed his arms. "I was afraid of that. Well, that doesn't change the first thing we're going to do, contact the police to help in the search. Then, find her. _Then_ is when her being part of the White Fang changes things. We'll have to take her in."

"What?!" Yang shot up and Noct stumbled back as a wave of heat washed over him, Yang's eyes suddenly glowing red and hair burning. "We can't turn her in!"

"Why not?" Sapphire turned to her, holding a hand out. "You may think of her as your teammate, but if she was part of the White Fang then she was a _terrorist._ The White Fang are known for killing and stealing, and if Blake truly was part of them then she could have done both."

"B—b—but she's super nice! Sure she's quiet and all, but she wouldn't hurt people!"

Sapphire sighed at Ruby's words, "Maybe, but we don't know that for sure. But like I said, we need to find her."

"We don't have to call the cops on her though!"

"What did I just say? We can't confirm or deny her innocence if we can't find her!" Yang growled at his words and Noct watched as Sapphire narrowed his eyes.

"Xiao Long, I've been fighting criminals for more than a year, and much of my training was how to deal with, defeat, or find criminals. Part of that training was searching for missing civilians. As an Aura Guardian, I will be looking for her, but I can do it with _or_ without you. Which will it be?"

Yang stood nose to nose with him. "I'm not giving my grind up to the police for something she may have done! We need to hear her side!"

Sapphire sighed and stepped away. "Fine. Good luck."

"Where the hell are you going?!"

"Out. To do my job."

"Sapphire," Noct stepped in front of him, making sure to stress his full name and not some nickname. Sapphire paused, at least giving him the opportunity to speak his mind for being so serious. "…stay safe. And if you find her before we do… well, talk to her, before doing anything."

"Noct!" Yang tried barreling over, but he held out a hand to stop her.

Sapphire nodded at his words. "Of course." Sapphire placed his hand on Noct's shoulder as he walked past, meeting his eyes for a moment. Noct's own eyes widened as he spotted something in them. Perhaps respect. As he walked out the door, Sapphire paused long enough to grab a pokéball from his belt and toss it over. "Here. Good luck."

Noct caught the ball before the door closed. The room was silent before Weiss walked after him. Yang glared at the door before switching her glare to him. "Why didn't you stop him?!"

"The dude shoots soul magic from his fingertips, you think I could stop that?" When the glaring continued he rolled his eyes. "Listen, he's told us that being a Guardian or whatever meant, like, he was a peacekeeper between humans and pokémon, while also helping out in other ways too. Like a police guy with superpowers. He has done this before, so no matter what he does with her, he'll find Blake even if we can't."

Her hair flared for a moment before she sighed. "Whatever. So he gave us a pokémon to help search?"

Anthony tilted his head. "I think that was the one in the center of his belt. Not the Premier Ball, that one's around his neck." Noct looked at the ball and shrugged, before tossing it forward. The ball popped open, and he lifted an eyebrow as Lucario appeared.

The jackal-like pokémon looked around at them, before bowing. " _I assume there is a reason it was not Master that sent me out."_

"Wait, why can I understand him?"

"Some pokémon can use telepathy to communicate with humans, Lucario's are known for being able to translate themselves with aura," Anthony explained to Ruby.

"Anyway, Sapphire wanted you to help us locate one of our friends, Blake."

" _I see. Very well, I accept my responsibility."_

"Wow, you're just as serious as your trainer, aren't you?" he asked while chuckling.

" _What do you mean?"_

"Never mind that," Yang interrupted. "We should plan out how we'll find Blake."

"Split up?" Willow suggested. "Teams of two maybe?"

" _If you have an object that she regularly wears or uses, I can attempt to track her through her aura. If it has been multiple days however, it may take some time."_

Noct slowly pointed towards the underwear drawer, before Yang smacked him on the back of the head and grabbed a book. "She reads this book a lot. Will this do?"

Lucario grabbed the book and closed his eyes, the weird dreadlock looking things that probably had a name but he was too lazy to remember what they were actually called began floating upwards, and when Lucario opened his eyes they were glowing blue instead of red. " _There is enough aura. But just barely. I suggest you still split up, you may find her before I do by doing this."_

"I'll go with Lucario, and I'll call you all if we find them first."

"Right. What about the rest of us?"

"We'll go into Vale and then split up."

"Alright." Noct crossed his arms and nodded his head towards the door. "We'll grab our stuff, then head out."

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Willow looked at Lucario from the corner of her eyes. They'd split off from the others a while ago, and now Lucario was silently leading them through Vale. Several people had stopped to stare at them, well, Lucario really. Eventually Willow cleared her throat, and Lucario opened his eyes to look at her. "Soo… how long have you been Sapphire's partner?"

" _Ever since he first began training to become an Aura Guardian."_

"Okay, how long ago was that?"

" _Around ten or eleven years."_

"So he was, what, five or six when he first began training?"

" _Give or take several weeks."_

"That's pretty harsh, isn't it? I guess he did say that his training was hard…"

" _Aura Guardians begin training when they show an aptitude for aura. When they accept the training, they are given a partner Riolu to train and practice their aura with."_

"Right. So, uh, how did you practice aura?"

" _There are several different ways, but to start you mostly meditate to bring your power to the surface. Master wasn't very good at that to start with."_

Willow snorted. "Really? I can't imagine Sapphire not being good at that. When he's not in class, training, or eating, that's all he does."

" _Could you sit still for eight hours straight as a child?"_

"Fair point."

" _He was also much more hot-blooded as a child."_

"Really?"

" _Indeed. He wanted to learn combat abilities right away, before anything else. Mostly beca- no, that is Master's story to tell."_

"What is? C'mon, you can't just leave off on a story like that!"

" _...Master had an accident before he began training. He was prideful when he first learned he could use aura, and who wouldn't? When you are a child and learn you have powers like a superhero, you would be filled with pride. But it was thought to be one of the seven sins for a reason. Because of his pride, somebody close to him got hurt. Since then, he became much more serious. He poured every waking moment into training his aura. He even unlocked the Golden Iris before most even start training to unlock it…"_

"The hell's the Golden Iris? I can _hear_ the capitalizations in those words."

" _Ah, Master did not tell you about it? I suppose he might not want to give away all of his abilities, but as allies, you should know each other's abilities."_

"So, what is the Golden Iris?"

" _I suppose the easiest way to explain it is to call it similar to an attack. Most Aura Guardians have a final resort, an attack that always works. When they are training this ability they gain the Golden Iris, a symbol that they are nearing perfecting their attack, while when they've finally perfected the attack it becomes the Golden Pupil. The Golden Iris changes their eye color to gold while their pupil becomes the color of their eye, and the Golden Iris returns their eye to its regular color while their pupil becomes golden. Master currently has the Golden Iris, which is why he hides his eye behind his hair."_

"Whoa. I wonder when he'll tell us about it."

" _Master is not good at trusting people. Become closer with him and he'll most likely begin answering your questions."_

"I guess so. Come on, let's get back to searching for Blake." Lucario nodded and turned back around, closing his eyes to search for aura.

" _The trail leads this way."_

"Huh. I think we're heading for the docks…"

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Sapphire walked down the street, visible eye aglow with aura. It had been several hours, and it was dark now. Luckily he had some money and could buy a small dinner. After a minute he grunted and shut off his Aura Sight, annoyed. With so many people in the world they'd found themselves in having such powerful aura's, even civilians, tracking someone was near impossible through Aura Sight. It was possible, just very difficult. Hopefully Lucario might have a better chance.

There was also the fact that someone was following him. He turned slightly to see Weiss following him silently, before refocusing on the sidewalk. She hadn't spoken much the entire time, but when she did it was mostly small questions. She was conflicted about something. But if she was going to speak, she would speak. Far be it from him to ask what was wrong.

"Sapphire…" Weiss sped up slightly to walk beside him but didn't look at him. "So, you'll hand her over to the police when you find her?"

"That depends." He looked at her, noting the indecisiveness on her face. "I'll be talking with her, and depending on her answers to my questions I'll be turning her in or letting her go."

"Such as, if she was actually apart of… that group."

"Yes. Why?"

"..." She looked down, "The White Fang have been at war with the Schnee family for years, they've kidnapped members of our board, tried to hurt our family, I've even heard of executions. We had to be kept in the mansion, safe, for most of our childhood… If Blake was part of the White Fang…"

"You can talk with her too if you'd like. In fact, I'd suggest it. She might lie to me, although there's a chance I'd see through the lies unless she's a good liar. She might not lie to you, now that her secret's out now, anyway."

"So you're using me to get the truth from her."

"Partly. But you followed me. If you want to find out the truth then ask her."

"I feel like you don't want to arrest her… or get her arrested anyway."

"I'll admit, she's one of the least annoying people I know, but I suppose that's not really saying something. Noct's stubborn and does things because they're annoying or will piss me off, Yang and Nora are too loud and bombastic, Ruby is too energetic, and everyone else is too touchy and huggy. Blake is quiet, and keeps to herself."

"But you still consider them all your friends?"

Sapphire opened his mouth, before frowning. "…They're acquaintances." She looked at him and he looked away.

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Anything annoying about me?" There was a note of challenge in her tone like she was daring him to say anything her about her.

"Everybody has flaws, you can be controlling and obnoxious," she tried to interject, but he finished with, "but I suppose others could say the same about me. But I like having control of a situation. It lets me protect those I care about. I've gotten used to being in control. I…need to be in control."

"Why?"

"…" his fists clenched, and he imagined that he had a far off look on his face as he thought back many years. "…Somebody I cared about got hurt because I wasn't in control of a situation, because I panicked."

"Oh."

"Hm. What about you? Why do you want to be in control?"

"Well, I was born into it, I suppose. I'm supposed to be heiress if the Schnee Dust Company one day. Not very good reasoning compared to yours, I suppose. Or at least, not as compelling…"

"Everyone has their own reasons." He reached back and brushed his staff, feeling the slit where the blade would come out. "What matters is that they're important to you."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Hm."

Hey continued walking, until they saw smoke in the distance. "A fire?"

"Possibly. I'm going to check it out."

"What about Blake?"

"Blake's smart, she's not going to get in trouble within two days. But people could get hurt in that fire, so I'm going to put it out, or at least evacuate anyone."

"I think the docks are that way, so firefighters might take some time to get there!"

"Then I'll definitely be putting it out. Coming?" She bit her lip, before nodding. "Alright, we'll need transport. I suppose I'll have to introduce another Pokémon to you. Aerodactyl, I need your help!" There was a flash of light as Sapphire threw forward a pokéball, and suddenly Weiss was looking at what looked like to be a large, bony, and featherless bird sitting in the middle of the street. Luckily Sapphire had waited until no cars were driving, so only some bystanders were distracted, no drivers.

"What is that?!"

"Aerodactyl, an ancient pokémon. Are you coming or what?" Sapphire climbed aboard the dinosaur and motioned to her. She looked at its sharp teeth nervously before getting on behind him and wrapping her arms around him. "Alright, Aerodactyl, to the smoke!"

His pokémon let out a screech, before taking off and soaring towards the fire.

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Noct scrambled to keep up with the faster Yang as they ran towards the smoke in the distance. The group had split up when they met what was apparently a friend of Ruby's, an old red headed girl, Anthony having gone with Ruby and the girl, Willow going with Lucario, and him and Yang going off on their own.

When what looked like an explosion went off Yang started speeding towards it, and Noct wasn't fast enough to keep pace. "Damn it, Hydreigon! Go!" His large, black and purple, three-headed dragon roared as he manifested, and Noct quickly jumped on his back before motioning for him to grab Yang.

" _Alright, finally it's kill time!"_

"Dear lord, you _are_ a sociopath," Noct groaned. Hydreigon grabbed Yang with his left head causing her to shriek before tossing her back, where Noct caught her. "It's alright, it's alright!"

"Is that a Grimm?!"

"No, it's my pokémon!" She looked at him skeptically, but he ignored that and motioned towards the docks. "Hydreigon, get going towards the fire!"

" _Can I kill whatever's there?!"_

"Arceus, no!" Hydreigon _pouted_ at him which he fiercely ignored. They soared above the buildings, and even with a large fire burning in the distance, Yang still looked amazed at the sights of Vale below her. "Yeah, flying for the first time is always fun."

"Yeah…" she shook her head. "But that's not important, let's get down there!"

"Right! Come on, Hydreigon, Agility!" Hydreigon roared and folded his wings in to sail downwards. As they got close to the docks, Noct saw several things. One— Blake and the monkey faunus from the docks a few days beforehand fighting what looked like a bunch of criminals. Two— the fire was from several destroyed crates of Dust. Three— he was pretty sure that he saw Sapphire and Weiss flying in on an Aerodactyl. Four— that there were several Bullhead airships over the docks, and one was aiming at them with a mini-gun. "Oh crap, Protect!"

A shimmering shield of green energy appeared around Hydreigon, bullets pinging off of it. The other ships noticed them and began firing as well, causing cracks to form in the shield. "Aw, crap crap crap! Why are we getting shot at?! By real bullets?!"

" _I'll kill them!"_

"Hydreigon dive! Into those warehouses!"

Hydreigon grumbled, before going into a full dive, straight to the roof of a warehouse. However his protect shield shattered before they reached it, and bullets began ripping through Hydreigon. He roared in pain, and Noct reached down to hug his neck in horror. "Hydreigon no!"

Yang tried to hold on, but the thrashing shook her off the dragon and towards a Bullhead. Yang watched in horror as the Trainer and Pokémon fell before her eyes turned red. She knew that Noct and the other trainers, plus their team had no aura, or at least couldn't use it to protect themselves like herself and others from Remnant. She would take some hits, but she would recover, and in the meantime, beat the shit out of them for hurting her friend!

Bullets plunged into her aura, some even getting through. But the pain fueled her semblance, and with a mighty roar, her fist slammed into the closest airship, Ember Cecilia firing off to give an extra boost. The front of the Bullhead crumpled like paper, and in the distance, she thought she heard Sapphire's voice rhetorically asking, "Did she just punch a ship out of the sky?" Before she fell back to Remnant.

Noct heard Hydreigon roar in pain again and scrambled for his pokéball as the pokémon tumbled through the air. "Hydreigon, you're too hurt to go on, return!"

" _You'll fall out of the sky!"_ Hydreigon struggled to right himself but roared again in pain as one of his wings flexed, agitating a bullet hole in it.

Noct grinned even if Hydreigon couldn't see it, "don't worry about me, bud." A flash of red and Hydreigon was back in his ball, and Noct sighed, before screaming. "SOMEBODY WORRY ABOUT ME AND CATCH ME!"

"Aerodactyl, speed up!" Noct tumbled through the air and saw Sapphire flying over on an Aerodactyl, reaching forward. But Aerodactyl's speed wasn't enough and Noct saw the warehouse roof grow closer faster than Aerodactyl. As he spun around again, he saw Sapphire reaching for his staff, hesitating for a moment, before flicking the blade out from the bottom and launching it.

He could see a larger warehouse next to the warehouse he was falling towards. Sapphire was going to try and stick him to its wall to save him! But how good was his aim, from aboard a speeding object, aiming at another speeding object? The staff flew closer, and closer, and closer, Noct watching with watering eyes from the wind rushing past. It was going to barely miss.

Noct reached out, hoping to maybe grab it and be flung along, or hook it through his sleeve, or _something,_ but instead, it cut through the side of his palm, sending blood splattering as the staff flew by. He watched with wide eyes as the staff slammed and stuck into the outer wall of the docks, before turning over as he fell. The roof was meters away. Funny. He was strangely calm about dying.

"NOCT!" Noct once again felt the wind spun him, and he could see Sapphire reaching out. The boy wouldn't make it. He gave a small smile and nodded, before clutching his bleeding hand to his chest, and closing his eyes. The next thing he knew, he felt a stabbing pain through his chest, and he blacked out.

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 **Yeet yeet, cliffhanger.** ***Dabs.***

 **Wow, I suddenly hate myself for writing that. Somebody needs to slap me, I've been watching too many vine compilations.**

 **So yeah, review or something if you liked it. Next chapter soon.**


	8. Chapter 8: Noct-Turnal

Chapter Eight: Noct-Turnal

Noct shot awake scrambling around for a moment. What just happened? The last thing he remembered was falling towards the warehouse. How was he alive? He looked up and saw the roof of the warehouse, but there was nothing wrong with it. No hole that he would've made as he fell through.

Drip drip.

He shakily got up, reaching up to rub his face. His heart rate skyrocketed when his hand went through his face, and he stumbled backward. When he looked closer, he saw that his hand was transparent. Looking down, he saw that the rest of his body was transparent as well. Was he dead? A ghost? He must be, he's slammed into the ground at terminal velocity and now he was incorporeal!

Drip drip.

There was a rumble in the ground and a flash of red through the sky. The others must have been fighting… whoever they were fighting. What would he do now that he was a ghost? He could prank people. Maybe find other ghosts? Could Ghost-Types communicate with ghosts? If he could find his body maybe he could find a way to send out his own Ghost-Type and talk with him?

Drip drip.

Drip? Noct looked down, to see a small puddle of blood. Where'd that come from? He held up his hand to see the cut in the side still dripping blood. Could he bleed if he was a ghost? He watched several trickles of blood run down his hand, before falling off his hand to the ground. The second it fell from his hand, the blood turned opaque, and splashed onto the ground.

What? Was that how blood worked as a ghost? That didn't make any sense, but then again, why would being a ghost be sensible? He bit his lip and looked around. But what if… he wasn't a ghost? He didn't see his handsome body anywhere… and if Sapphire could use pokémon moves with his aura, could he use Ghost-Type moves?

He clenched his fist and closed his eyes, trying to focus. When he blacked out, he'd felt a stabbing pain, but his only injury was on his hand, so perhaps that had something to do with it? He looked inside himself, using sheer willpower to try and wrench out the power that had turned him incorporeal, and a moment later, he felt the stabbing pain once more, and then when he opened his eyes his body was opaque again. "Oh. Hoho. Ohohohoh!" He cackled as he threw his hands in the air. "I'm alive! With a new pranking resource!"

Another rumble and Noct turned serious. "Alright. I need to help the others." He cocked his gauntlets, Blazing Comet ready for action. He then reached for his belt, looking over his pokéballs. But they could probably use more help than just me…" He grabbed Houndoom's pokéball and released him. As the hellhound materialized in front of him he smirked, reaching into his bag for a certain stone and collar.

He attached the collar to Houndoom before rolling up his sleeve to reveal a bracelet with a rainbow colored stone in it. "Let's party, Houndoom!"

* * *

Willow watched as chaos erupted on the docks, Weiss and Yang fighting off dozens of goons, while Blake and that monkey faunus fought off some guy in a white suit and bowler hat. "Lucario, help them out! I'll take the high ground!"

" _Of course."_ Lucario sped forward and began defeating the goons with ease, while Willow ran forward and began climbing up a ladder on the side of a warehouse. At the top, she ran to the side of the warehouse and slid to a stop, before grabbing Ivy Reckoning. Noct's stupid names for things must have been rubbing off on her, she absentmindedly chuckled to herself.

She looked through Ivy's scope, zooming in on a White Fang member that was trying to attack Lucario from behind.

Bang!

One pull of the trigger later, and they were laid out, aura fizzling. She grinned and pulled back Ivy's bolt, the bullet casing popping out. She scoped in once again, finding another target.

Bang!

And another one bit the dust. As she pulled back the bolt, she saw Lucario becoming surrounded by several goons. He could probably take care of himself, but just in case… "Leafeon, Sceptile, go help out Lucario!"

Two pops and flashes of light and her pokémon popped out of their balls. Leafeon began controlling vines to crash up out of the ground and grab several goons, letting Lucario get in several hits as she held them in place, while Sceptile just jumped down and began whacking head together.

She shook her head and grinned, before zooming in once again.

Bang!

There were still plenty of goons around, so she had plenty of targets—

WOOOM!

And now beams of energy were flying through the sky. Okay, sure, why not. She'd seen weirder. She perked up when she saw several people cornering the guy in the suit, and zoomed in. If that guy was the leader, she wouldn't be letting them get away. As long as she watched him, then even if the others were defeated, she could take the shot.

Her aim jerked when Sapphire was attacked from behind, and she swiveled around to see what had happened. Some short girl was trying to attack him before Sapphire attempted to trip her up and sent her flying away. After a few tense seconds, Sapphire charged her, but she suddenly exploded into glass.

Willow's eyes widened, and her gun snapped to the side, pulling the trigger to a send bullet flying. Just in time as well, as the mysterious girl was just about to send her blade slicing through Sapphire's back and spine before her bullet slammed into the girl's aura and sent her flying away. She saw Sapphire turn to her direction as she pulled back the bolt and she smiled, but she wasn't sure if he could see it at the distance they were at.

Her smile turned to a frown when she remembered the ringleader, and turned to see that he was running, before a second later the mysterious girl grabbed him, and they both disappeared in glass shards. She lowered her gun and sighed. She turned back to the group and her eyes widened, before she climbed down from the roof and ran over.

* * *

Several minutes beforehand, Sapphire watched Noct fall, before Aerodactyl swept past and he couldn't strain his neck anymore to look. He snarled, before grabbing his staff from the wall has they flew past. "Aerodactyl, take down those ships!"

" _Let's get them!"_ Aerodactyl screeched and swept forward, throwing up a Protect shield as bullets flew towards him. They impacted with the shield and pinged off, before cracking it.

"Iron Defense!" When the Protect finally shattered, Aerodactyl's skin had become tough as iron, and he managed to reach the ship before they drew a single drop of blood. Aerodactyl roared and bit down hard, tearing through the metal of the cockpit, letting Sapphire jump inside. He yelled and slammed his staff into one pilot, which he realized in the back of his mind was wearing a mask and had dog ears. White Fang?

But that didn't matter. They'd fired on an innocent person, they'd killed Noct, and people below them on the docks were fighting so others could die. As an Aura Guardian, he needed to protect them. The copilot yelled and brought up his own gun, but Sapphire simply summoned up Normal-Type aura and used Extreme Speed to slip by the bullets and slam into the man. They fell back, aura flashing as it depleted before Sapphire spun and slammed the end of his staff into their face, shattering the mask and knocking them out.

He rolled to the side as bullets whizzed by, and saw three more White Fang goons in the back of the Bullhead. He shot an Aura Sphere forward, blowing out the bottom of the aircraft, and throwing them apart. He then jumped forward and slammed his fist into the stomach of the first goon, doubling them over and then kneeing them back. He slipped back as the second goon tried to attack him from behind by bashing him with their gun, before grabbing their elbow and shoulder and slamming them into the floor of the aircraft, rearing back and slamming his open palm into their elbow to break their arm. They screamed as their aura shattered and their arm dangled before he slammed his foot down to knock them out.

He grabbed their rifle and spun to smack it into the final goon, causing them to stumble back as their mask cracked. He shot forward as he tossed aside the gun, shoulder tackling them to the ground and raising his staff above his head. At the last moment, he realized the blade part was still out, and he quickly sheathed it in horror at the realization he could have stabbed and killed the person, before slamming it down to knock the last faunus out.

He sprinted back to the front of the aircraft and jumped onto Aerodactyl. "Set them down, then go for the next!" A screech of acknowledgment and they flew down. However, just as they set the aircraft down, an explosion blew Sapphire off of Aerodactyl.

He rolled across the ground before slamming his staff into the ground to slow himself. He looked up and saw some man in a white suit with orange hair and a bowler hat pointing a cane at him. "Well, that was entertaining! Bravo, bravo!"

Sapphire's eyes shot to the side and he saw Blake and the monkey faunus- really got to learn his name- facing the odd man. "This the ringleader then?" Blake nodded. "Alright. What's your name?"

The man burst out laughing, so Sapphire took the opening and launched an Aura Sphere, which the man narrowly dodged, before glaring at him. "What, you serious kid?" Sapphire's return glare made the guy raise an eyebrow. "Figured everyone would know about me by now. Roman Torchwick, gentleman thief, at your service."

"Ah, so that's what you look like. That doesn't matter. If you're the leader, then I'm taking you in."

"Ha! And what makes you think you can do that?" His answer came in the form of his Tracking Aura Sphere circling around and slamming into the man's back. As Torchwick stumbled forward, Sapphire shot forward and slammed his staff into the man's face. He growled and swung his cane, but Sapphire ducked underneath it and kicked him back, right into Blake's swing. Gambol Shroud cut into the man's aura before she began elegantly attacking, each swing looking like a dance move as her sword flew through the air.

Torchwick growled in anger and tried to fire a flare from his cane, but the monkey faunus got her out of the way with his tail, before using his own staff to smack Roman back. Sapphire joined him, slamming his staff into the criminal's lower back to stop his momentum, and let his ally get in a hard swing on his face. As Roman tumbled away, the faunus grinned at him. "You use a staff too? Awesome!"

"Right. What the hell's going on here?"

"So long story short, Blake wanted to prove that the White Fang wasn't the one robbing all the dust stores so to do that we had to go to a place that they would rob and not find them there so we came here since there was a huge SDC shipment coming and when we did the White Fang came on proving her wrong but then she ran forward and tried to ask why the White Fang was working with Torchwick since he's a human but then Torchwick shot a flare at her and then we started fighting."

"...Huh."

"Yeah. I'm Sun Wukong by the way!"

"Sapphire Chaser." They turned back to Roman, both of them spinning their staffs into a ready position. Roman tried firing at them again, but Sapphire set up a Protect shield, letting the explosive detonate harmlessly against his shield. Sun slammed his hands together and created two glowing clones, most likely his semblance, before they shot out of the smoke and attacked Roman.

Sapphire and Sun followed, beginning a barrage of attacks using their staffs. Sapphire jabbed forward, which Roman managed to defend against by deflecting his attacks with his cane, before Sun leaped up using Sapphire's shoulders as a launching pad, and coming down from above.

Roman backed off and spun to slam his cane into Sun's staff, before the end of the faunus' staff lit up with a _bang_! Sun snapped his staff in half to reveal that it was made of two sets of nunchucks, and each set had two shotguns built in. Sun began wailing on Torchwick, with Torchwick blocking as many of the hits as he could.

Sun suddenly backflipped away, letting Sapphire slip in and dodge past Roman's cane and slam a Force Palm into the man's chest. The criminal stumbled back and Blake tripped him up with Gambol Shroud before Sun jumped over her and tried to slam his staff down on the man.

Torchwick rolled aside and fired another flare, which the three dodged. Sapphire powered up a Mach Punch and shot forward with almost as much speed as Ruby had when using her Semblance. Roman was sent flying away by the powerful hit before Blake threw her weapon forward and hooked it on his shirt to drag the man back, where Sun slammed his staff and end first. The momentum of being pulled back by Blake was quickly and powerfully reversed by Sun's attack and Torchwick's aura shattered, just as Sapphire leaped forward and delivered a kick that sent him sprawling.

"How many more kids are going to ruin my night?!" Roman rhetorically groaned as he got up, dusting off his suit. Two beams of light answered that question, one green and made up of energy, while the other was a pillar of pure flame, practically lava. Each one took out several Bullhead's, causing Roman to groan once more.

Sapphire turned to see the beam of green light coming from a redheaded girl with several swords floating behind her, and turned the other way to see that the flame had come from… "Holy shit, he's alive?"

"Nicely done, Mega Houndoom!" Noct was standing in front of the warehouse, petting his Houndoom as the pokémon growled, lava leaking from his mouth. "Now, Show them the full power of Mega Evolution!" Mega Houndoom howled, and suddenly an artificial sun flew up into the sky, lighting up the docks with even more light than the fires were creating. With a sun overhead, Houndoom drew on its energy and activated Solar Power, opening his mouth and unleashing another blast of pure heat.

This one was aimed along the ground, and even just being near it depleted most of the White Fang goons' auras, while the concrete underneath was melted. The rest of them the redheaded girl took care of, leaving Torchwick fuming. "Give it up, Torchwick. It's over." The man growled, before lifting his cane quickly and firing a flare. Before it could impact, a huge wall of ice appeared, blocking the explosive.

Sapphire looked to see Weiss smirking as she twirled Myrtenaster, and nodded his thanks. Behind her, Yang approached and beat her fists together, while behind Roman, Ruby, Anthony, and the redheaded girl approached.

Noct walked up behind Sapphire, grinning as every step Houndoom took made the cement under his paws melt. "What Sapph said, give it up, you meterosexual ass. Or do you want to feel the wrath of my Stand, _「_ _Through the Fire and the Flames_ _」_?" Sapphire absentmindedly smacked him.

Roman growled as he backed up, and found himself at the water's edge. He suddenly smirked and took a bow. "Well done, congratulations! You teamed up and took me down, you must be so proud."

"I don't care about that. What matters is we—"

" _Master, look out!"_ Sapphire spun around, and just barely blocked a sword swing to his throat.

"Motherfu—!" The small woman at the other end of the blade smiled and bat her eyelashes at him, before flipping away as Sapphire tried to sweep her legs. "More backup then?"

She just smiled and blew a kiss at him, which made Yang snort as Weiss bristled. Sapphire narrowed his eyes as well. If she wasn't taking this serious then she was either cocky or very strong. Possibly both. Before she could attack again, Lucario slammed into the ground behind her, settling into a fighting stance. "Thanks for the warning, Lucario."

" _Of course, Master."_ The girl looked back, before turning back to him and pouting. He settled down and waited for the girl to make the first move, and everything was still for several seconds before Lucario's eyes widened. Sapphire noticed this, but not knowing what startled him shot forward to attack the girl, assuming she had done something. When he slammed his staff into her, she shattered into a million pieces, like glass.

His eyes widened, and when he turned, he saw her behind him, plunging her sword down at him with the others scrambling forward in shock. Before the blade could make contact a gunshot rang out, and the girl tumbled back. Sapphire saw Willow in the distance, atop a warehouse with her rifle raised, pulling back the bolt.

Turning back to the girl, he saw Yang bringing her fist down on her, only for her to disappear with the sound of glass. As Sapphire looked around, his eyes widened when he realized that Roman was gone as well. "Son of a-!" Sapphire hissed as his grip tightened on his staff.

Noct noticed as well and sighed. "Well, now what?" He yelped as suddenly Yang, Ruby, and Anthony jumped on him and began hugging him. "Whoa whoa whoaaa!" he fell onto his back, laughing. "What's with all the hugging?"

Yang pulled back and glared at him. "What the hell do you mean?! We thought you'd died!"

"No fall from any height can kill Noct Umbra!" He began laughing until Willow jumped into the pile, having run over from the warehouse when she saw that the villains were gone.

Sapphire watched with a small smirk, before turning to Blake. "So."

Blake suddenly looked rather embarrassed, and her cat ears, which Sapphire just then noticed, seemed to fold down. So she really did hide them with a bow. He wasn't going crazy when he thought he saw it moving.

Weiss suddenly appeared, crossing her arms and Blake's ears lowered even more. "L-Listen, Weiss- I…"

"Blake…" Weiss thought about what she was going to say. "Just answer two questions. The first, were you really part of the White Fang?"

"Yes… but I'm not—"

"Did you ever hurt anyone?"

"No! Never! I… my last mission was a heist on an SDC train, but when I found out that the passengers were going to be killed… I cut the cars and left. No matter how much I wanted change, equality, I couldn't let innocent people get hurt because of it."

"Then that's all I needed to hear." Weiss smiled, and Blake smiled back. In the background, Sapphire watched them.

"So, going to drag her to the police?"

"..." Sapphire crossed his arms at Noct's words. "Criminals have to pay for their crimes. Even if she never killed, she still stole, destroyed property, and everything else the White Fang has done."

"But…?"

"But, I suppose becoming a Huntress and protecting people is… acceptable. To me, at least."

* * *

Noct sighed as Anthony checked him over once more. "I told you, I'm fine!" He winced as Willow smacked him on the back of the head and glared.

"You fell at terminal velocity through a building! Now be quiet and let the doctor do his thing!"

"Don't know why we couldn't have gone to the actual school nurse at least…"

"Because I don't want anyone knowing about this, it could be a huge strategic advantage."

"Dear lord, you and your strategic advantages…"

Sapphire glared at him. "We'll just tell anyone who asks that you sent out a pokémon that caught you or something. Now, how did you survive…"

Noct thought for a moment, before leaning forward and clasping his hands together. "I've connected the dots—"

"You didn't connect shit."

Noct tried smacking Sapphire, who just leaned back. "I've connected them. I used a Ghost-Type move!"

"…alright maybe you did connect them."

Noct grinned and crossed his arms. "Y'see, I remembered you talkin' 'bout how when you shot your aura through us to protect us with the whole wormhole situation, we might gain some of your aura abilities or whatever! We can already understand pokémon and figured that since you could use some pokémon moves, maybe we could do the same, but with less skill, meaning we'd just be using the type!"

Sapphire nodded along. "Huh, with how many stupid decisions you make daily, I forgot you could sometimes be smart."

"...Thank you?"

"Yes, from what you told me, I can only assume that you used Phantom Force, or even fully turned into the Ghost-Type to phase through the roof."

"But how did he do it?" Willow asked as she folded her arms behind her head. "Adrenaline or something?"

"No, in training we're beat up enough that our body produces adrenaline and pumps it through us to help us ignore the pain and keep fighting," Anthony explained as he shook his head.

"Willow is partially correct," Sapphire confirmed. "In the absence of training, the body can help you do the impossible with the proper conditions. Do you know those stories of a father or mother lifting a car to get to their trapped child? Similarly, your aura activated under the incredible stress and adrenaline." Sapphire held out his hand.

"The Ghost-Type is an odd type. Pokémon can use it easily, of course, even non-Ghost-Types. You see, Ghost-Types are related to sacrifice. Ghost-Types are already dead, and they have paid their sacrifice. Other types can simply use their own energy and will become fatigued. But for humans, even Aura Guardians, there is a bit more… sacrifice to it. Anthony, scalpel."

Anthony handed over the small blade, confused. Sapphire looked at it for a moment, before pricking his finger. As blood welled up, dark purple energy pooled in his hand and flowed up his arm, before forming an orb in his palm. "For humans, we have to sacrifice our life to harness the Ghost-Type. Or at least, our lifeblood. Aura Guardians that are specifically trained in the Ghost-Type can use it just as easily as a pokémon could, while others that are trained more generally, like me, can also use their own energy, but it fatigues us a bit more easily, so sacrificing a bit of blood can make it easier."

Noct whistled. "Damn, that's metal as hell. But I wasn't exactly sacrificing anything while I was falling."

"But you were." He nodded at Noct's hand, which Anthony had Audino heal. "The cut on your hand from my staff blade. The concept for sacrifice is loose, and even if it was done by someone else, by accident, you were still bleeding. Your aura had activated from the stress and adrenaline, mingled with the sacrifice, boom, Ghost-Typing."

"Huh." He lifted his hand and looked it over. "Hey, toss me the scalpel."

"Yeah, no. We aren't having a self-mutilation party. I only cut myself for a demonstration." He handed the scalpel back to Anthony who nodded. "We can experiment more with your auras later. I suppose it's about time that I train you in using these abilities anyway."

"Awesome!" Willow cheered, tossing her arms up. "I'll be flinging around Solar Beams in no time!"

"That's what you think," Sapphire smirked and thumbed his hat, letting his eyes glint out from underneath. "If the training I've been putting you all through so far has been brutal, then your aura training is going to be _**hell.**_ I suggest getting dinner and then going straight to bed. You'll be waking up before dawn tomorrow, for a bit of fun."

All three of the other trainers felt their arms flop. That didn't sound good.

* * *

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as she saw Noct, Anthony, and Willow breathing heavily on the side of one of Beacon's pathways, wearing sweatpants and t-shirts. She slowed her jogging down, until she was standing next to them. "Hello!"

"Hey… Spartan…" Noct wheezed.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "What are you all doing out here so early? Jogging like me?"

"..." Anthony couldn't even answer, laying breathless and wheezing on the ground.

"If you call running for a full hour straight jogging, then sure," Noct coughed out. "We can't talk, have to catch our breath before Sapphire comes back around, and pretend we're still running."

"Uh…" Pyrrha blinked, before looking at Willow.

"Apparently, to train aura you need to push your body to its limits… I have no idea how that works though," she wheezed out.

"Why are you all slacking off?" Sapphire asked as he jogged past. All three earthlings shivered, before slowly getting up and going back to running. Pyrrha watched, before shrugging and jogging to catch up with Sapphire. "Howdy, Pyrrha."

"Hello, Sapphire. Making your team enjoy a morning jog with you?"

"Not really. I'm training them to use aura from our world. This requires intense training, even more so than they've been receiving. So I'm upping my workout back to its usual one from before getting here, which includes a multi-hour run that starts before dawn. We've been going for an hour now."

"So that's what they were talking about…" She muttered to herself. "But that is rather intense training for people not used to workouts, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but they've been working out quite a bit more than you would think. Noct is constantly training with Yang to better his punches and his stances while also doing basic strength building exercises like weightlifting, while Willow and Anthony were still training with me. All three of them were being started on lighter workouts, I'm just jumping it up."

"Ah." They continued to run in silence for several minutes. "So, have you heard about the upcoming dance?"

"Dance?"

"Yes, Beacon will be hosting a dance for its students, will you be going?"

"No, I don't enjoy dances. And I just know that Noct will be planning something to make the dance more "interesting.'"

"Yes, that is something he would do," she said, giggling. "So what do you enjoy doing?"

"What?"

"Sorry, But when you said you didn't like dances, that got me thinking that I've never seen you doing anything other than train, go to class, and eat. If you don't mind me asking, what hobbies do you have?"

"…I don't suppose training is a hobby?" Sapphire slowly asked.

She laughed, before biting his serious expression. "Wait, you are serious?"

"What?"

"You don't have any hobbies?"

"Not really, I guess. I figure if you have free time, why aren't you using it to better yourself?" The boy shrugged, "It's why all my free time is spent in the school's gym. I can train myself and my pokémon in there. It's honestly a bit of a pain to keep them away from other students, but the less people know of us, the better off we are. Unknowns have the advantage."

"You don't believe that there are people in the student body targeting you, do you?"

"Well… not really…"

"Then why does it matter so much?"

"..." Sapphire looked off, an unreadable expression slowly setting onto his face.

"If it's personal, I'm sorry for asking…"

"Hm. Fine. I've just found that it's always best to have a trump card up your sleeve, whether it's allies or enemies. And the more trump cards the better."

"But what if a friend needs help? And you have to use one of your trump cards?"

"Then I use them. If a trump card is revealed then it's revealed, but I won't stand back and let someone die just because I didn't want to give up info to the enemy. The most precious thing of all is life, and if I can help it, I will not let someone die because of me."

She smiled, "A lot of people say you're intense and unpleasant, but I think deep down you're a sweet guy." When Sapphire turned to level a deadpan stare at her she looked away. "Sorry." There was an awkward silence. "Anyway, back to hobbies, you should ask your teammates to show you some of their hobbies."

"Why?"

"To get to know them better."

Sapphire shook his head, "when we get back to earth, we probably won't see each other again. I'll be going back to my duties as an Aura Guardian, they'll be doing trainer and doctor stuff."

"You won't stay in touch?"

"No. Why would we?"

"…Because you're friends?"

"Friends grow apart. And I don't have time for relaxation every day when there are so few Guardians to help people."

"Before you came here, were you really solving problems every day?"

"Well… not huge ones, but…"

"Then you can take some days off for friends." She was greeted with silence, and she tilted her head. "Why are you afraid of making friends?"

Instead of a rebuke like she thought she would get, Sapphire answered with silence. "…I suppose I'm just not good with people."

"How… many people are you close with?"

"Well… there's my village."

"And how many people in that village would you say you're friends with and not acquaintances?"

"My parents… my cousin… uh…"

She smiled sadly. "Before coming to Beacon, I was famous. four-time mistral regional tournament champion and everyone knew me… but I wasn't happy." She looked down, "everyone put me on a pedestal, 'the invincible girl,' they called me. No one wanted to befriend me for me, but for what I stood for, or just thought I was too out of their league for them to even try and get to know me.

"But when I came to Beacon… well, there were many people that did the same thing, but there were a few that didn't know me. That just came up, asked me my name, all while giving a smile like everything was fine. One person even completely overlooked me at first," she chuckled at the thought of her meeting with Jaune. "And once I put in the effort to find friends, I found so many. My Team, Team RWBY, Noct, Willow, Anthony. You just have to try."

"…I'm not good with people. Well, I am when it's sabotage and investigation missions and I have to blend in, but just getting to know people is out of my league. I'm much better being alone, doing things by myself."

"Then why do you have pokémon?" Sapphire grew silent again.

"Well… they can do things I can't. Aerodactyl can fly me places, Zorua is even better at infiltration than me, everyone has a role."

"But you're friends with them. You care about them. So why can't you learn about your teammates? Learn to be friends, learn to care?" The boy sighed, and she looked forward. "Maybe… try and start with learning about their hobbies. See if you enjoy doing them as well. At Beacon, I've learned that making friends is easier than it seems… sometimes, you just need to make the first step."

As they passed by the rest of Team PKMN's members, Sapphire slowed down slightly, as she continued running. His voice was low, contemplating. "Hey… we're almost done, just a bit more."

As the distance between her and the Team grew, she smiled when she heard his next words. "Noct… what's a hobby you all like?"

* * *

 **Seemed like a good endpoint.** **Wanted to get this out quickly because I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger, so yeah.**

 **So now the trainers are going to be learning some aura. About time.**

 **And some people were saying in PMs that Sapphire seems like an ass, but that's pretty much the point of his character. He's the ass who's an ass because he has to keep everyone on track in a serious situation, while everyone makes fun of him for being so serious. But I'm sure most of you know this just by reading.**

 **Some changes are starting to stack up, Neo had to show herself early, so that might change a few things later on. let's see how that goes.**

 **Anyway, if you liked the chapter just review and say coolio or something. Doesn't need to be some long speech if you're not into writing those, but if you want to, then feel free. I always like reading the longer reviews, like the reviews I get on Bound By Our Hearts, that tell me what people liked in the chapter. Of course, I'll also take constructive criticism too, as long as it's constructive, not "U Suk." Haven't gotten any of those yet, but if my stories get popular enough I'm fully expecting it, and looking forward to it. Gonna be fun to see how many variations I'd get. Lolz.**

 **And yes, I DID put a pun in the chapter title. Because why not.**

 **But yeah, see y'all next time!**

 **Revealed pokémon so far:**

 **Sapphire's team  
** **  
-Lucario - partner**

 **-Zorua**

 **-Solgaleo/Necrozma**

 **-Aerodactyle**

 **Anthony's team  
** **  
-Ampharos - partner**

 **-Plusle**

 **-Minun**

 **-Audino**

 **Noct's team  
** **  
-Hydreigon - partner**

 **-Absol**

 **-Houndoom**

 **Willow's team  
** **  
-Roserade - partner**

 **-Beedrill**

 **-Leafeon**

 **-Sceptile**


	9. Chapter 9: Bonds of a Team

Chapter 9: Bonds of a Team

"This book is part of a series as well, so you'll want to be done with that book before starting on another…" Willow sorted through the bookshelves, grabbing books and either placing it in the growing pile in Sapphire's arms or placing them aside for herself.

"Aren't these books from a literal alternate dimension? How do you know all of this already?"

Willow tapped the side of her head, "I love books, I've been reading ever since I was little, so I can tell just by looking at the covers."

The bell at the door of the shop rang, signaling more customers coming into the small shop. From their position behind the shelves, they couldn't see who it was, but he was more focused on the stack of books that were starting to block his sight. "Willow."

"And then this book looks pretty good…"

"Willow."

"Oh, ninjas of love? That'll be for _me_ , heh heh…"

" _Thorne!_ "

"What?" Willow snapped back to reality and sheepishly noted that the stack of books Sapphire was holding was now a head taller than him. "Oops…"

Sapphire just sighed, before there were a click and a flash of light, and Willow's Leafeon appeared. " _Again, Willow?"_ Leafeon spawned several vines from underneath the leaves on her body, controlling them to pick up and hold several of Sapphire's books. " _Willow can go overboard when buying books. We usually have to help her out."_

"Well, I do have some other customers at the moment, but I can help you when I'm done with them!" Was the shop owner talking with the new arrivals? His voice seemed raised. A normal, indoors tone of voice wouldn't have reached them, nor theirs to the owner and shoppers…

Something was wrong. His instincts never failed him before.

"This is enough for now," Sapphire told Willow, raising his voice to be heard over the shelves. "Come on, let's buy them."

"Oh, alright…" Willow followed him dejectedly, rounding the shelves. Unknown to her, Sapphire's eyes were darting between each individual in front of him, his golden eye glowing with Aura Sight beneath his hair. The boy by the front door, with silver hair and a white aura. His aura also had black tones weaving through it, meaning there was a malicious undertone to it. One that a killer would have.

The green-haired one by the counter, dressed in… revealing clothes with a similarly malicious mint-green aura. Although, slightly less malicious than the boy's.

And the owner, Tukson, with a distressed-looking aura. Robbers? No, no masks. Then what? The Tukson guy obviously knew they meant trouble, but nobody in this world had Aura Sight. Previous acquaintances? There was no way to tell, without more details. "Mr. Tukson, we'd like to purchase these." He glared at Willow. "With _her_ money."

"Hey, I said I'd pay, chill out." She rolled her eyes and they placed their books down. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the boy watching them— well, more like watching Willow's backside, while the girl was switching her gaze between Leafeon and himself. Her aura was calmer, with a touch of worry.

As Tukson began scanning the books, his eyes seemed to be thanking him. Sapphire just subtly nodded back. "S-So, that creature… you're some of those kids from the other world or something?"

Small talk. He was bad at it, but in situations like this, he'd have to make due… or have a companion who was much better at it take charge. "Yep!" Willow grinned. "This is Leafeon, a Grass-Type pokémon!"

"It's certainly quite cute," Tukson chuckled nervously. After paying for the books, Tukson's aura grew worried again. Sure enough, the girl and boy were still there. He'd hoped they'd have given up whatever they were trying to do after seeing them there. Plan B then.

"Do you have anywhere to sit down? It's quite hot out today, and I'm a bit tired from the walk. And I can get started on these books," Sapphire pushed a bright grin onto his face, and Tukson nodded.

"Uh, just over there." He pointed out some seats, and Willow and himself wandered over.

"Wow, did you just smile?"

Sapphire said nothing, opening the first book he grabbed and activating aura sight to look through it. Now he could only see the silhouettes of their auras through the book, but they wouldn't suspect that he was watching them.

"Well, that's all we needed. If we have any more questions we'll… return later." The auras left, a ringing of the bell signaling the opening and closing of the doors. Tukson breathed a sigh of relief, and Sapphire settles into his chair. Looks like they would be staying until closing… and maybe a bit after. Those people could possibly return within the hour, or an hour after closing. There was no way to make sure.

Well, at least he had some books.

The two never returned, although Sapphire kept his Aura Sight up, and several times thought that he had seen their auras through the book he held, the shelves, and the front windows, but with so many other auras he could never be sure. Tukson at least calmed down over time, becoming less worried.

By the time the store was due to close they hadn't entered again, and Tukson finally breathed a sigh of relief. Sapphire nodded and closed the book he had been reading, which was honestly rather good. "Come on Willow, I think it's closing time."

"Right!" She returned Leafeon, who had been slumbering in her lap, before standing up. They gathered the bags their books were in, before leaving. While Willow waved happily at the owner, Tukson and himself shared a nod, Tukson's with thanks, himself with knowing.

"It's much nicer out now," Sapphire noted subtly, knowing the two people could still be nearby.

"Yeah, it is! Come on, I saw a park nearby we can relax in!" She turned and clasped her hands together, "come on, let's enjoy the weather before heading back to Beacon!"

"Sure, whatever."

"Yeah! You act tough, but you're a big softie!"

"Don't push it." Of course, he'd be using the extra time near the shop to keep an eye out for as long as possible.

A few hours later, they were on their way back to Beacon with Tukson safe and several new books.

* * *

"Now, simply unscrew that bolt…" Sapphire tried twisting the bolt that Anthony had pointed out before the entire weapon fell apart.

"Uh…"

Anthony twitched. "How— no, no, it's fine. We'll… we'll just start over again…" he grabbed a gun from a rack nearby, placing it onto the work table. It was, of course, just a model, as the first had been, fully customizable and free to take apart and put back together, but unable to fire. "How are you even bad at this? Didn't you study weaponry your whole childhood or something?"

"Not guns. Just close combat weaponry. And when did you gain so much knowledge about them?"

"I already knew a lot about weapons, just not remnant mecha-shifters. Those still confuse me."

"Alright… start with…" Sapphire tried to think back to how they started dismantling the first gun. "…why do you even know how to do anything with _regular_ guns? You're a doctor."

"I'm interested in all kinds of things," Anthony said, eyes glued to Sapphire's hands, trying to figure out just _how_ he had managed to destroy an entire gun by unscrewing a bolt. "Weaponry is pretty cool, but obviously I would never use any weapons on another person except for Grimm and stuff because I hate hurting people. So besides weaponry, I really like engineering. "

Sapphire somehow managed to unscrew a bolt without destroying the entire weapon and placed it carefully aside. An awkward silence fell on them as Sapphire continued dismantling the weapon. "So, uh…" Anthony floundered for a moment. "Nice weather we're having?"

"…aren't we indoors right now?"

Anthony facepalmed. "Can you even try small talk?"

"Uh… what's your favorite color?"

"I… Alright, screw it, it's a start. Yellow. What about you?"

"Blue."

"Okay, why is that?"

"…do people actually like small talk?"

"Just keep going, you're doing fine."

"I don't know, I like it? It's calming I guess."

"Well, that's fine. Now, ask me what I like doing."

"What do you like do—" the gun in his hands fell apart again and Anthony threw his hands up in exasperation.

"How?!"

"I don't know, it just happens."

"Alright, I'm getting more model guns. Wait here."

Sapphire crossed his arms and looked around the forge. Unlike reading with Willow, he didn't find much fun in this engineering. Understanding his weapon was all well and good, but it just wasn't his thing. But, he supposed that if Anthony found it fun then he would keep giving it a chance.

"Hey." Sapphire turned his head and saw Cardin of CRDL standing awkwardly behind him.

"Hello. Cardin, was it?"

"Yeah…" the conversation dipped into a lull before the larger boy cleared his throat. "I wanted to talk."

"Okay."

"Well…" the taller boy moved his hands around, before settling for folding them. "I talked with Jaune the other day, and he told me about your conversations. And how you pushed him to train with the redhe— Pyrrha. I wanted to say… if you hadn't pushed him to train, then he might not have been able to save us from that Ursa. So in a roundabout way… I also have you to thank for saving me. So yeah. Thanks."

Sapphire stared for a moment. "Was that hard?"

"What?"

"Was that hard? Thanking me? I'm not mocking you, it's a genuine question."

"Well… I don't like relying on others, I've… always been the strongest, at every other school that I've gone too, so to be suddenly weaker than that RWBY team, or the Pyrrha girl, or your teammate… yeah, it pisses me off." He breathed, "but, I do want to make up for Jauney boy saving me, so I won't be bothering him again."

"But that's good."

"What?"

"That you're pissed off, it's good. Use that anger, get better. Don't use it to push other people around and belittle them, use it to better yourself, your team. If Jaune told you about everything we talked about, then he told you about how sometimes you have to rely on yourself, and other times you have to rely on others.

"Being strong on your own is important, but you also need friends, teammates to fight by your side and help you." He held out a hand, "as Huntsman, you're fighting soulless monsters to save humanity. But what will you do if no one likes you? If no one fights by your side?

"Apologize to those you have wronged, and use your anger to drive yourself, prove you deserve to be here, and not that you're a bully." He poked Cardin on the breastplate, "you're not the strongest anymore, the pond is full of fish that are just as big, or bigger, than you. Do you want to be left behind, or catch up? Surpass them? And then have friends by your side, to watch your back?"

Cardin was silent for a moment, before nodding. "I'll… keep your words in mind, Chaser." He walked away, before turning slightly before he was out of hearing range. "And thanks, for the saving, and the words." With that, he left, and Sapphire nodded. He turned and jumped when Anthony was right behind him and grinning.

"You are good at talking with people!"

"No, I'm not." He grabbed the model gun from the blond and slammed it onto the table. "I just have experience consoling people. Comes with my line of work."

"Sure, sure. Just pretend that you're consoling me then, and we'll turn you into an extrovert in no time!"

"Yeah, no. Just help me take apart the gun properly."

* * *

"Spike him, spike him!"

"I have no idea what that means."

"Hit him with your Dair!"

"My what?"

"Down air, your down a— and you're out. Rip in peace, smh my head."

Sapphire breathed in through his nose, then out through his mouth and calmly set the controller down. "These things… are supposed to be fun?"

Noct grabbed the controller and began flicking through the menus on instinct, not looking at the screen as he glanced at Sapphire. "They are when you don't take them so seriously. Hell, I play competitively and even then I know it's just a game. You've gotta relax and look at it that way."

"Joker! Ness!" The game announced the selected characters, and Noct pressed start.

"Here, you might have more fun with this character. He's fast-paced and is pretty powerful when his meter fills up. I lowered the CPU Ness' difficulty as well, so you should have an easier time."

Sapphire just sighed and grabbed the controller again. The next game went slightly better, even with Noct being a backseat gamer. He managed to win, barely, and a smirk fell onto his face before he became blank again. If Noct noticed, he didn't comment.

"Nice, see? Once you get the hang of these things they're easy peasy."

"Uh-huh, sure."

Noct once again began going through the menus but upped the difficulty for himself since he was much more experienced at the game than Sapphire was. The two boys watched the screen as Noct, even with the difficulty at its highest level, managed to decimate his computer opponent. In the silence filled only with the sounds of battle, Noct glanced towards the Guardian. "So, I talked with Willow."

"Amazing, you talk with people."

"Maybe you should do that, instead of keeping to yourself and lying."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Willow talked with your Partner while they were out looking for Blake. He told her all about your little Golden Iris. And funnily enough, the explanation for that thing is completely different from how you explained it to me, your family line having some gold whatever. No, apparently, it's a marker for some super ultra attack that you didn't think to tell me about."

"I didn't trust you. Easier to say it's some family thing rather than an ultimate move."

"God… even if that ultimate move would be good to know about? Because I would have liked to know about it before you someday pull it out of your ass and surprise us. Listen, that's not the point! When are you planning on telling us… like, anything?"

"When I trusted you."

Noct's eye twitched. "The only reason there isn't more frustrated yelling occurring in this room is that I can take my frustration out through my game. You _need_ to start trusting us. We're on the same goddamn team Sapphire, and are going to be stuck together for a long time."

Sapphire just glared at him, before turning back to the screen. "I don't exactly trust easily."

"Well learn goddamnit. Or we aren't exactly going to be able to get along well."

He closed his eyes and counted to ten. "…Fine. Fine, whatever. What do you so desperately need me to tell the truth about?"

"Dude. I don't want a sudden bout of truth and your life story, but just… from now on, try and be more open with us."

"Right. Sure, whatever."

Silence fell over the room again, before Noct nudged him with his shoulder. "We should get the team together later and have a practice battle. Keep our skills sharp in a fight that isn't being recorded by a dozen Hey, why not tell me about this ultra move or whatever. It sounds pretty cool. And hey, grab a second controller, we'll play some two-player games together."

Sapphire grabbed the controller Noct indicated and Noct switched the game to a racing one. "Well… I suppose I should explain how most Guardians train when preparing to create a move."

* * *

Team RWBY paused at the sight of the training arena when they walked in. Burn marks, vines, rocks, ice, it was all coating the ground, and in the arena proper two beams of energy were colliding, one a dark black, the other bright red.

"Pyroar, break off! Avalugg, Shield!"

"Don't let up! Keep up the pressure Sableye, Bisharp, circle around!" On the stage, the pillar of fire abruptly cut off and a pokémon that looked like a lion with a crimson and yellow mane jumped back as a walking iceberg lumbered forward and slammed its foot into the ground, shooting up a wall of ice.

Opposite them, what looked like a small, purple gremlin with gem eyes kept up the beam of dark energy, while a red and black knight with blades on its arms began sprinting to the side.

Bisharp skirted the edge of an ice wall, dodging a blast of fire from Pyroar. It closed in and swung its blades, causing the Fire-Type to dodge back as Avalugg lumbered forward, stomping to send ice shooting from its foot across the stage, before transforming into spikes that the pokémon dodged.

"Burning Blades!" Noct called, and Bisharp quickly set its swords on fire, swiping at the large icy pokémon. Avalugg rumbled in displeasure as it felt the fire, before head butting the opposing pokémon away. Pyroar suddenly leaped over Avalugg and unleashed a Fire Blast, sending the kanji for fire flying forward before exploding as it impacted with the ground.

Suddenly, the ice wall that Avalugg had created burst as the dark energy Sableye had been blasting it with smashed through. Avalugg moved to take the hit, shielding Pyroar. "Icicle Crash!" Avalugg roared and slammed their leg into the stage before several portals opened in the air above Sableye and icicles began falling from them.

Sableye stopped blasting Avalugg and began dodging, skittering between the icicles as Pyroar kept Bisharp away from Avalugg. Sableye threw its head back and breathed in as a dark orb formed above its mouth, which it quickly fired. Pyroar dodged to the side, causing Bisharp to follow the lion, not noticing the orb. "Bisharp, dodge left!"

Bisharp quickly followed their trainer's words, dodging the orb of energy. They then turned and waved a fist at Sableye angrily. "Bis, sha bisharp!"

"Eye!"

"Stop fighting! Focus back on the actual battle!"

"Your pokémon aren't coordinated," Sapphire spoke. "In a battle with multiple pokémon or people, that is dangerous. Frozen Flame Lock!" Pyroar jumped back _onto_ Avalugg as the pokémon stomped forward, reared back onto their back legs, and crashed to the ground. A layer of ice swiftly covered the ground, freezing Bisharp and Sableye's legs, before Pyroar leaped onto the ground and unleashed a burst of flame, swiftly evaporating the ice into steam, obscuring the stage.

Before visuals were fully lost, Pyroar sprinted forward, flames covering their body as they slammed first into Bisharp and then into Sableye. Bisharp attempted to retaliate, but the Fire-Type simply sped back into the steam. "Stay together, don't fight!" Noct called.

Both pokémon looked at each other, before standing back to back. "Sableye, if you hear anything-"

"You've lost," Sapphire cut in. "You've heeded my warnings about working together, but you never thought about any ulterior motives I might have had. Frozen Flame Dual Beams!" Inside the steam, Avalugg began coalescing ice in its mouth, as did Pyroar, but with fire. A moment later, and two beams fired, one a cool blue, the other a bright red. They mixed together as they flew, and a bright purple beam of ice and fire smashed into Sableye and Bisharp who had been standing too close together.

The steam cleared, revealing the knocked out forms of Noct's pokémon. Anthony raised a hand, "Noct, your pokémon are out! Sapph wins!"

"Ughh…" Noct made a 'tch' sound with his mouth. "Are you giving me advice or trying to beat me?"

"Both. You've trained your pokémon to be powerhouses but they can't take hits. Avalugg is my most defensive and tanky pokémon, but by the end of the battle, he was starting to slow down and weaken. On the other hand, while his attacks _are_ powerful, they aren't as strong as attacks from my other pokémon, yet they were still doing damage to yours."

"The best defense is an overwhelming offense," Noct replied back with a cheeky grin.

Anthony wandered over and released Audino, "Audino, use Heal Pulse please."

"Dino!" The pink bipedal pokémon glowed as it began using Heal Pulse on all four pokémon.

"There are so many things wrong with that statement," Willow snorted, nodding at Noct.

"Eh, I'm just focused on the fact that Sapph pulled an anime protagonist move and yelled his ultimate attack."

"That's literally how every pokémon battle goes."

Eventually, Team RWBY snapped out of their shock at the display of power, with Ruby shouting, "that was awesome!"

"Oh. Team RWBY. When did you get here?"

"Near the end of the battle! That was crazy! Are all pokémon battles like that?" Yang questioned.

Noct grinned, "Some, But not most. It really depends on the trainer's skill levels and their battle styles. My battle with Willow was much calmer because her pokémon aren't as powerful. I also didn't have Houndoom use many powerful attacks because her pokémon was too fast to be hit by them."

"That's true," Willow nodded. "I focus on training my pokémon for speed and trickery. They whittle down their opponents slowly, tiring them out."

"So you were having a practice battle then?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, and then we were going to feed our pokémon."

"Why here?"

"Because Blue's a paranoid asshole," Noct said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, does that mean we can see the rest of your pokémon?!" Ruby asked, excited.

"I guess so," Anthony laughed.

Sapphire sighed, and Yang grinned, slapping him on the shoulder. "You know it was bound to happen eventually, dude!"

"Whatever." He gathered his pokéballs, throwing them forward. "Come out guys, time to eat."

"You two!" Anthony stated.

"Everyone out!"

"Come on out boyos!"

Seventeen flashes of light later and the arena felt a little more cramped. Alongside Pyroar, Avalugg, Bisharp, and Sableye, came Lucario, Zorua, Aerodactyle, Ampharos, Plusle, Minun, Audino, Hydreigon, Absol, Houndoom, Roserade, Beedrill, Leafeon, and Sceptile.

But along with the known pokémon came new ones. From Noct came a large, bipedal, black and white bear with a stick in its mouth. It crossed its arms and grunted, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

From Willow came a large purple bat, with four wings and no other extremities. It had piercing eyes and fangs and settled onto Willow's shoulder. With it came a green, tree-like pokémon with leaves for hands and a white, hair-like mane.

All of the pokémon began chattering with each other, and the differences between pokémon teams became apparent. Sapphire's pokémon were all calm and talked quietly, Willow's team were similar but they just either sat silently, or lay on Willow, Noct's team bickered between each other, but not angrily, more like they were all friendly rivals, and Anthony's team was the loudest, laughing and talking with each other.

"Wait," Weiss said. "Where is the pokémon we saw you arrive on?"

Ruby lit up, "Yeah! Where's Nec… Necra…"

"Necrozma." Sapphire sighed, gripping the white pokéball on his chest. "He's a bit big, so stand back." He tossed the pokéball up, and there was a final flash of light before the massive lion pokémon formed. It rumbled and threw back its mane, shaking itself out.

"Wait, he was a giant dragon in the video! Why's he a lion?"

"This is actually Dusk Mane Necrozma. See, Necrozma's true form was weakened a long time ago, and it began craving light to transform into its true form. When it began rampaging it absorbed Solgaleo, the Legendary Pokémon of the Sunne." He patted Necrozma's body, "the lion body, and the white and gold colors are Solgaleo's original body, while the black armor and arms are Necrozma's."

"Wait, so is it hurting Solgaleo?" Ruby asked, worried.

"No, it's… it's like a mutually beneficial relationship. Solgaleo gets a power boost from Necrozma, while Necrozma can exist without feeling pain at all times. They've been combined for so long that their consciousnesses are pretty much one at this point."

"What about the dragon form?"

"That's Necrozma's true form. Once I give it enough aura, it can become Ultra Necrozma."

"That's awesome!" Yang exclaimed.

Necrozma chuckled. " _I'm glad you think that way."_

"It can speak!"

"Most legendaries can," Noct shrugged. "It's actually rarer to find one that can't if you can find a legendary at all."

" _And some pokémon can speak through aura,"_ Lucario explained. " _Although I have heard of some that learned the human language, and didn't just translate through aura."_

"Yeah, aren't Zoruas and Zoroarks known for doing that?"

Zorua perked up from her place in Sapphire's lap, while he answered. "Yes, if they're masquerading as a human. A disguise is worthless if your voice gives it away.

"So why were you having a practice battle?"

"The same reason you all have a class specifically for battling each other. We have to keep our skills sharp."

"Oh, what were those moves you used near the end?" Yang questioned. "Those were awesome!"

"They weren't anything special," Sapphire shrugged. "Just some combination moves."

"Combination moves?"

"Yeah, a lot of trainers come up with them." Noct nodded. "They're great for double battles, basically you combine different moves that your pokémon knows. Blue, which ones were those?"

"The first combo, Frozen Flame Lock is a combination of a unique move we've made and Flame Charge. Avalugg froze the battlefield to lock the opponents in place, while Pyroar used Flame Charge to smash through the opponents while they were frozen, and at the same time turning the ice to steam to obscure our opponent's view. Frozen Flame Dual Beam is just an exceptionally powerful Ice Beam and condensed Fire Blast."

" _It was one of these combination moves that allowed Sapphire and his pokémon to take me down at the height of my power."_

"Granted, it took combining the power of several pokémon, not just two pokémon," Sapphire muttered.

"That's totally awesome! We should come up with combo attacks!" Ruby exclaimed.

"They would give us an edge in Grimm hunting… plus, there's the festival coming up soon," Weiss murmured to herself.

"I could totally help you come up with some combo moves," Noct grinned. "I'm great at it, I've got dozens!"

"I thought you weren't much for technique, just power," Willow grinned.

"There's nothing more epic than a Giga Drill Breaker," Noct wisely said.

"I suppose I should be here in case any of you injure yourselves," Anthony chuckled. "Why don't you stay as well, Sapph?"

"I might as well," he sighed, absentmindedly petting Zorua and Necrozma, before letting a smirk slip onto his face. "Might as well learn from the master, rather than Noct."

"Ass," Noct shot back.

* * *

"Well, well, look who decided to show up! And where were you two all day?"

"Shove it, Torchwick," Emerald snapped at him.

"Oh ho ho! Someone's touchy! Lemme guess, you messed up during a little pickpocketing adventure?"

"I'll have you know we were planning on cleaning up something you forgot about."

He narrowed his eyes in irritation, before plastering his smug grin back on. "Now, see, the important word there is 'planned.' I'm willing to bet that your little venture didn't go too smoothly. What, was the task too difficult for you kiddies?" Emerald narrowed her eyes and looked away. "Well, whatever the reason, you just raised his suspicions. _I_ was planning on dealing with him soon, but now he'll be watching his back. So, if you two were _my_ employees, I'd—"

"You'd what?"

"Treat them to a nice buffet," he grinned, spinning to see the flame bitch herself. Juuuust great.

"Yes, I'm sure you would," she smiled, lifting a finger and sliding it across his cheek as she walked past, causing him to wince as small embers burnt his skin. "Now then… I believe that I told you two to keep a low profile while in Vale…"

"And we were!" Emerald nodded her head, always willing to please her mistress. He faked a gag while they were turned away from him and saw Mercury roll his eyes. It seemed they at least agreed on one thing. "We didn't actually kill him, we were stopped."

"And how, exactly, is that keeping a low profile?"

"We hadn't even started to fight Tukson before two other customers walked out from behind some shelves. They were… they were those monster capturers, or whatever they're called."

He blinked, turning his head to her, interested. He very clearly remembered his fight with them, how just a few of those creatures easily disabled the White Fang grunts he had assisting him, and how the boy was able to keep up with him.

"Is that so…? They didn't suspect you?"

"I'm… I don't think they did."

"Yeah," Mercury added, with a bored shrug. "The gal was buying them some books, and the guy with the really messed up fashion sense was just along for the ride. They sat down and began readin', but I got a bad feeling from the guy. It was like he was looking at us through his book."

"He shouldn't have had any reason to suspect us though!"

"Calm, Emerald," Cinder smiled. "instincts and gut feelings are important. Mercury, what makes you think he suspected you two?"

"Like I said, just kinda a feeling. But if it means anything else, they stayed in that store the whole day, and when it closed they hung out at a park nearby where they had a clear line of sight on the place, and continued to read. Coulda been a coincidence, but you never know."

"Hm… yes, that's correct. Although, just as you have only suspicions on them, they may only have suspicions of you. There is nothing concrete as to who you are. I may have to... talk to him myself when we transfer to Beacon and find out exactly what he suspects."

"Well, second semester starts soon. I'm sure you can ask the kid then," Mercury shrugged nonchalantly.

"Something I will certainly do." He watched the flame bitch and her lackeys exit the warehouse, before lighting an expensive cigar and turning back to the mangy white fang mutts. She could adapt, he'd give her that much. Whether that would help against those brats, time would tell.

* * *

 **Here's another chapter y'all, all about Sapphire bonding more with his team! I bet you all thought I was retconning something with the eye, with Sapphire saying it was just an appearance thing in chapter 2, and then Lucario saying it was a super move in chapter 7, but nope! Just Sapphire being a very suspicious boyo.**

 **I hope some of you liked what I did with Cardin's interaction, his team kind of disappears after everything's said and done, but I think they have the potential for some good stuff!** **I also showed off the rest of the pokemon each character has, since I figured it would work best after a practice bout when they were about to feed them. Anyway, Hope you enjoyed it!**

* * *

 **Modern-day Phoenixclaw here. Holy lord I was an edgy baby back when I first wrote this. You can't hurt me, am babey. Before my present-day Author Note, here's a Christmas themed Omake! enjoy!**

* * *

Sapphire grimaced and adjusted his costume, glaring at Noct. "Why the hell am I Scrooge?" Noct, Willow, and Anthony stared back at him deadpan and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not that much of a grouch."

"You could literally say 'bah humbug' anytime and nobody would be surprised. You're Scrooge, deal with it." Noct tightened his belt around the pillow he'd hidden underneath his costume and grinned as he pat it. "Ho ho ho!"

Anthony snickered and adjusted his elf ears, jingling the bells on his outfit. "I think I look pretty good, and it makes sense for me to be the elf, after all, elves are the builders of Santa's workshop!"

"Did you build me anything?" Willow teased, poking at her antlers. "I remember writing about how I wanted a new scope for my rifle."

"Unfortunately, Santa Noct forgot to get me his lists of who's been naughty or nice."

"Do you really believe in this Christmas stuff?" Sapphire sighed and pulled at his sleeve, shaking his head. "I don't think one man can travel the whole world in one night and give every child presents or coal."

"Maybe he has Dialga or Celebi as his partner. Imagine looking out your window and you see the legendary of time staring back!" Noct nodded at the thought as he spoke, before throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Now come on, Rudolph, Legolas, Scrooge!"

"I don't think that's the right elf."

"Semantics, all elves are the same."

"I feel offended on behalf of my fictional brethren!" Anthony glared and placed his hands on his hips.

"Say sorry to Mikitaka for me." Noct motioned out of the room and they walked out towards the ballroom. "Now come on, I'm betting Teams RWBY and JNPR are waiting for us."

They were, alongside several other teams, as music played and snow fell outside the windows. Apparently Remnant had some kind of Nondescript Winter Holiday, literally, that was what it was called, so they already had Christmas themed music playing. Noct had managed to get the chefs in Beacon's kitchens to make eggnog as well, the non-alcoholic version, although everyone on Team PKMN expected Noct to at some point sneak alcohol into the bowl, and vowed to stay far away.

Ruby looked over as they entered and squealed at the sight of them, using her semblance to zip over and poke at Anthony's ears. "Oh my god, you all look great!" Anthony grinned and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment while Noct just laughed loudly and slapped his pillow-belly.

"Ho ho ho, of course we look amazing! Stay away from that old Scrooge though, he doesn't have the spirit of the holidays in him!" Sapphire sighed as Ruby giggled and nodded while waving at him.

"Well, well, you've all dressed up rather fancily." Yang grinned and crossed her arms, looking them up and down. "Though, I'm not sure Coco would approve of Sapphy's clothes."

"Piss off." Yang just laughed, and Blake raised an eyebrow.

"You're the Scrooge character from Willow's novel then?"

"When did you even find the time to read that…?"

"He fits the character rather well, doesn't he?" Willow smirked and stuck her hip out, tapping her chin. "Better be careful there Scrooge, or Santa Noct will fill your stocking with coal!"

"Coal…?" Jaune questioned.

"Or presents, if you're good!"

"Oh oh oh, I want presents! Gimmie gimmie gimmie!" Nora gasped and jumped forward with sparkles in her eyes, with Ruby right behind her.

Pyrrha giggled as Ren pulled them both back, sighing with a smile. "Perhaps you shouldn't crowd them if you'd like your presents."

"Yeah, no crowding Santa or you just get coal! Or, uh, Fire Dust? I guess that's Remnant's version of coal. Now, where's the mistletoe?" Noct looked around with a grin, and Weiss sighed at him.

"So vulgar."

"Hey, smooching ain't that vulgar! Unless there's tongue involved. That'd make it a bit more interesting."

"Ugh." Sapphire and Weiss shook their heads in unison. "Bah humbug." They both paused and raised their respective eyebrows, before nodding and shaking hands.

"Well, you two can be boring if you'd like, but we're gonna go have some fun! Come on gang, let's get WASTED!"

"By the legends, he's not even being discreet with the alcohol," Anthony noted in horror.

"We'd better make sure those dunces don't get into too much trouble."

"Yeah. They're our dunces after all." They followed the group, and the night of merriment continued.

* * *

 **I thought a little Omake focused on some fun and a few jokes would be nice and in spirit with Christmas. So a merry Christmas and happy new year to all y'all!**

 **Being serious, as I said in A New Dawn, I totally overestimated how much I could handle and went for three stories at once. Big yikes. So, since I had been on a roll with Bound By Our Hearts, I decided to keep trucking and finish that story, before coming back to Worlds Apart and AND. I may have made y'all wait, but I don't abandon stories. I didn't want to just upload a chapter that was just an author note and get your hopes up either.**

 **In any case, The full Pokemon list. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, and leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!**

 **Sapphire's team**

 **-Lucario - partner**

 **-Zorua**

 **-Solgaleo/Necrozma**

 **-Aerodactyle**

 **-Pyroar**

 **-Avalugg**

 **Anthony's team**

 **-Ampharos - partner**

 **-Plusle**

 **-Minun**

 **-Audino**

 **Noct's team**

 **-Hydreigon - partner**

 **-Absol**

 **-Houndoom**

 **-Pangoro**

 **-Sableye**

 **-Bisharp**

 **Willow's team**

 **-Roserade - partner**

 **-Beedrill**

 **-Leafeon**

 **-Sceptile**

 **-Crobat**

 **-Shiftry**


	10. Chapter 10: Cafeteria Chaos

Chapter 10: Cafeteria Chaos

There was a loud 'thump!' and Sapphire watched as his plate jumped a slight amount before he raised an eyebrow as he looked at the end of the table to see Ruby placing a large binder on the table with something about the best day ever written on it, alongside Weiss' name. Ruby cleared her throat, before spreading her arms. "Friends! Teammates! Weiss and Sapphire!"

"Hey!" Weiss fumed and crossed her arms.

He just raised his cup in acknowledgment. "Yo."

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream!"

Anthony blinked. "Did she just cannibalize the Gettysburg address?"

"And the 'I have a dream' speech?" Willow added.

"Did they even have Martin Luther or Abraham Lincoln on Remnant?" He asked Anthony and Willow.

"Omega yike moment," Noct nodded.

"You don't get an opinion, Noct, you pour the milk first and then the cereal." Noct just smirked at him and poured more cereal into the milk already in his bowl.

"I am the pure embodiment of chaotic energy. I am directionless action, destruction given form."

Ruby kept speaking as if she hadn't been interrupted. Or perhaps she had been speaking and they just weren't paying attention as they argued about cereal. "I dreamed that we would have the bestest day ever!"

Weiss suddenly noticed her name on the binder like he had earlier and slammed her hands on the table. "Ruby, did you take my binder?!"

"I am not a crook."

"Okay, this cannot be chalked up to coincidence…"

"What are you talking about?" Blake sighed at Ruby's enthusiasm, and Ruby threw her arms into the air.

"I'm talking about starting off our second semester with a bang!"

"I'd rather start it off calmly."

Yang ignored the blue-clad boy and winked at her teammates. "And _I'd_ rather start off our semester with a _Yang!_ "

"Ha!" Noct high-fived her, while the rest of them groaned at the pun. An apple smacked Yang in the face and she glared at Nora. "Aw, that _soured_ the joke, didn't it?"

"Puns are the weakest form of joke." Willow shook her head and wagged a finger.

"You take that back, tree hugger."

"Oh yes, I haven't heard that one before," Willow smirked and rolled her eyes as Noct snorted.

"Look, guys," Ruby cut back in, "It's been a good two weeks, and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year, our second semester is going to be great!"

"The break from classes at least gave us more training time for Team PKMN," Sapphire pointed out. "Noct and Willow are near what Jaune's skill level at this point, even though they've never fought before or have Remnant's aura advantage."

"I thought breaks from school were supposed to be about relaxing though…"

"Quiet, Noct, I sat down to play video games when you forced me to."

"And that is still weird to see," Willow pointed out. "At least you're a bit better with your Pokémon aura, Noct. Anthony and I still don't know what ours is."

"It's difficult to create an actual life or death situation in a controlled environment," Sapphire shrugged.

"Well, even if we haven't gained aura, I'm at least looking forward to more of Doctor Oobleck's lessons," Anthony grinned, "the history of Remnant is fascinating to learn about."

"Nerd."

"Nerd.

"Complete nerd." Anthony slumped as his entire team, even Sapphire called him a nerd.

"So! With classes starting back up tomorrow, I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, ignoring as Yang threw an apple back at Nora. "I'm not sure whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store."

"I don't know," Blake rolled her eyes, "I think I might sit this one out."

"Hmm… sit out or not, I think however we spend this last day we should do it as a team."

"Do any of the activities involve training?"

"Shut up, Sapphire."

"I've got it!" Willow turned to see Nora grabbing a pie and winding up.

"Uh oh."

Weiss stood up and placed a hand on her chest. "I, for one, think that-" She was cut off as the pie that Nora threw went off course and smashed into her face. The table went silent as the pie slowly fell, and Teams RWBY and PKMN turned to see Nora looking like a deer in the headlights, before she pointed towards a sighing Ren, as Pyrrha and Jaune also watched wide-eyed.

"This is why you don't throw food," Sapphire sighed. "At least it didn't-" His face was suddenly pushed down into his food as Noct shoved him down before the Trainer stood atop the table and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"FOOD FIGHT!"

How it escalated so quickly, no one could tell. One moment the cafeteria was silent from Noct's cry, the next food was being thrown, tables were shattered or stacked, and chaos erupted. Noct grabbed a set of pies and launched them before Pyrrha jumped forward and blocked them both with a metal tray used as a shield.

Pyrrha jumped forward and lunged with a stiff loaf of bread as an impromptu spear, throwing Noct across the cafeteria. "Shit!"

Sapphire watched Noct fly across the arena and drew a ten on the floor with ketchup. "Well done, Pyrrha, beautiful." Anthony sat across from him, the both of them underneath one of the few tables still intact. The blond looked down at a set of cards he held in his hand before grabbing a card from the pack.

"Damn. Not gonna get Uno at this rate."

"Sucks to suck." Sapphire played a blue three as Willow sailed over the table yelping as Nora chased her with a hammer made by shoving a pipe through a watermelon. The table cracked as the weapon slammed into it, with Willow doing an awkward, imperfect backflip away to dodge. "Watch it up there, we're playing Uno!"

"But Uno doesn't come with the Xbox!" Noct yelped as he crashed through the table, before taking cover to launch several more pies out. "You should join us, this is pretty fun!"

"I think not."

"I don't really want to get hit by turkey," Anthony snorted, placing down a yellow three.

"Aw, you don't want to get me back for shoving your face in your food?" Sapphire paused, before lunging for Noct. "Oh shit!"

Anthony looked down at the unfinished card game and sighed. "Well, I guess we're not finishing our card game." Nora suddenly appeared and grabbed him by the collar.

"By the queen's orders, you are now part of the army! JOIN US!"

"By the legends, please no."

A link of sausages suddenly wrapped around Sapphire's leg as he tried to attack Noct, and he was quickly tripped as Blake pulled back. He narrowed his eyes and flipped back, tugging hard to dislodge the sausage link and then dodge a punch from Yang, who was wearing turkeys on her fists like gauntlets.

Noct grinned and readied more pie grenades, so Sapphire narrowed his eyes and kicked down, sending a loaf of bread into the air for him to use as a makeshift staff. He twirled it, knocking the pies out of the air, before dodging away from several fast strikes from Blake. "Detect!" His eyes glowed red and he 'saw' the future, in that he could perfectly see how the sausage links would move around as Blake attacked, and he flawlessly ducked between the attacks.

"Pokémon moves are cheating! Shadow Ball!" Noct tossed a pie infused with Ghost-Type energy, and Sapphire dodged, still using Detect. He backflipped away and landed atop a table, Ren moving forward to duel against Blake while Noct and Yang jumped atop the table he stood on to battle him.

Yang approached first, throwing a turkey covered fist, which he deflected with his bread staff and ducked under a kick. A shadowy pie, literally, it was covered in a dark blue aura, flew towards him and he grabbed Yang's leg, throwing her into it, before blocking a punch from Noct. He wrapped his arm around the boy's neck and suplexed him, breaking a part of the table. A Pokéball bounced free from the boy's waist, and he grinned as he kicked at it. "Pangoro, let's party!"

The large, panda-bear like Pokémon raised an eyebrow at the surrounding carnage, before shrugging and slamming its hands down into two watermelons to use as bludgeons and swinging them at Sapphire. " _Let's go, blue boy!"_ The Aura Guardian was pulled away by Pyrrha and the table finally shattered, being able to take no more punishment. Noct gave a two-fingered salute and vanished into the floor while using Phantom Force, and Pangoro roared as he charged towards them. Sapphire kicked up a tray to use as a shield like Pyrrha, and they each blocked one fist.

They skidded back, the strength of the Pokémon overwhelming them for a moment before twin surges of strength flowed over them. " _Go, go, let's have fun!"_

" _Find your strength and kick some bum!"_ Plusle and Minun cheered and waved pom-poms made of electricity, posing and jumping together like cheerleaders as they used Helping Hand.

"Power them up, Plusle, Minun!" They began pushing Pangoro back before Crobat shot out from across the room and used Cross Poison. The two Electric-Types yelped and jumped aside, throwing out Thundershocks at the Pokémon, while the Helping Hands wore off.

"Strength!" Sapphire's body bulked up and he pushed the large Pokémon back before Noct launched out of the ground and hit him full force with Phantom Force, throwing him across the cafeteria. Jaune caught him and he shook his head, rolling his shoulders. "Bastard."

"Suck it, loser!" Noct called from his position with Team RWBY.

Pyrrha hopped over and adjusted her tray and loaf of bread, before raising an eyebrow at the large tower of tables that had somehow been constructed in the short amount of time since the beginning of the fight. "When did you build this?"

"The queen never reveals her secrets!"

"Your reign will end soon, you tyrant!" Willow screamed from across the room, Crobat fluttering onto her shoulder.

"Do we have to be so dramatic?" Sapphire muttered.

"Think of it as a training exercise, put your all into it!"

That made the boy pause before lifting his bread staff and narrowing his eyes. "Thou who betray thy queen shalt be executed! Surrender now, betrayers and your deaths will be swift and merciful!"

"NEVER!" Ruby stood atop a table and lifted a hand into the air. "JUSTICE WILL BE SWIFT! JUSTICE WILL BE PAINFUL! IT WILL BE… DELICIOUS!" The rest of Team RWBY plus Noct and Willow cheered, Pangoro roaring his approval and Crobat screeching his own.

"Cannons ready!" Anthony stood up and waved, and Nora grinned maniacally as she leaped into the air and brought her 'hammer' down onto a makeshift lever, firing several watermelons through the air and towards the enemy. Yang used her turkey gauntlets to smash apart several of the watermelons, before backflipping and letting Crobat scatter the rest with powerful gusts of winds from his wings.

"Reloading!"

"Stop them!" Yang raced forward at her little sister's shout, attempting to prevent Anthony from resetting and reloading the table with more watermelon. Blake moved up beside her to provide backup, and Sapphire and Jaune met them halfway. Sapphire punched Yang's fist with his own, wincing as her superior strength rattled his bones before Jaune jumped over him and yelled as he brought down a shorter loaf of bread the size of Crocea Mors. Yang backed off and Blake moved up to whip Jaune away before ketchup covered her face and blinded her.

Sapphire smirked as he threw away the empty bottle, before frantically crossing his arms as Yang delivered a blow to his chest and sent him crashing through several tables. He was covered in debris and Anthony cried his name dramatically before either Blake or Yang interrupted him. He tried to get up, before grunting as more weight pressed down on his shoulders.

"Gah…" He struggled to his feet and lifted the tables, before nearly falling as he let go with one hand to reach down to his belt. "Zorua!" The tiny fox appeared, shaking her head as tiny sparkles erupted from her fur.

" _Hiya Sapphire!"_

"Zorua, disguise as me and charge in there!" Zorua gave a devious snicker and with a flash of light a copy of him was also crouching down underneath the tables. "How well can you speak English?"

"Am some… somewhat good!"

"Then don't talk as much, just fight. I'll sneak around the side." Zorua grinned with his copied face and saluted, and he lifted the tables further for Zorua to leap out of while he snuck out the back. Zorua hopped onto a table and almost crouched down, before remembering she wasn't in her Pokémon form and instead grabbed two leeks to use as makeshift daggers.

Yang noticed Zorua's approach and grinned as she jumped forward to attack before Ren appeared out of nowhere and attacked with his own leek daggers, using them in place of Stormflower to swipe at Yang's legs and kick her far across the room. "Sapphire, glad to see you're okay."

"Thank... " Zorua blanked on his name, so she just nodded seriously like she knew her Trainer did. The guy raised an eyebrow before the red girl skated by on a food tray. She grinned wickedly which caused the boy with her to raise his other eyebrow before the disguised Pokémon grabbed a bowl of now cold soup and splashed it into the girl's path, causing the girl to scream as she couldn't stop and flew off into a wall.

"Ruby!" The white one dashed towards him and she couldn't help the mischievous snicker that was present in her entire species, causing the girl to narrow her eyes in suspicion. But no matter how suspicious she was, she couldn't have expected another Sapphire to appear and drop kick her into a pillar. "What?!"

"It's his Zorua! They can make solid illusions, so he made an illusion of Sapphire!" She giggled again at Noct's words as Sapphire brushed his hair aside nonchalantly.

"Zorua, Torment."

"Hehehe!" She let Dark-Type energy fill her voice and her eyes flashed as she focused on the pale girl. "Must very suck to be bested by baby Pokémon!" Weiss growled and grabbed a fish with a sharp nose and sped towards them in response.

"Why does Beacon have swordfish…?" Sapphire began dueling with her as Zorua transformed back into her fox form and began running under several tables.

Crobat suddenly descended and cut through the table with an Air Slash, and Zorua yelped as she dodged to the side, dashing under several more tables. Pangoro roared and slammed a fist through the table trying to catch the Tricky Fox Pokémon but her small size aided her greatly. " _Dark Pulse!"_ The table exploded back as a dome of darkness exploded out from her and threw the two Pokémon back onto their butts.

" _Yeah!"_

" _Good job Zorua!"_ Zorua snickered at Plusle and Minun's words before a punch from Pangoro threw her across the room with a yelp.

Sapphire raised an eyebrow as his pokémon flew across the room, before ducking back from a swordfish strike. He kicked up a bowl of beans to blind her, and she scowled as she fell back before Ruby was suddenly there, throwing him back as she slammed the tray she was riding once more into him.

As Sapphire began fighting the two partners, Nora and Anthony launched another volley of watermelons, pelting Blake and causing her to take cover behind a table. Anthony cheered before Yang leaped up from behind them and launched Anthony across the room into the kitchen. "Squire Anthony! How dare you, heathen!"

"Come at me, princess!" Yang grinned and dashed forward, throwing several punches that Nora blocked with her hammer. Nora just grinned wildly back and flipped away, swinging hard and shattering a table as Yang sidestepped, throwing a right hook that sent Nora sailing. Willow intercepted her with another swordfish used as a spear unlike Weiss, who was battling with hers as a makeshift rapier.

Willow swept at her legs to trip Nora up, only for Nora to roll away and slam down, both crushing the watermelon at the end of the pole and causing Willow to duck back to avoid a concussion. Noct was suddenly there, and Willow grinned at the backup before Noct snickered and his eyes turned red as he revealed himself to be Zorua using Shadow Ball.

Willow scowled and Nora retreated to grab another watermelon, until the real Noct suddenly knocked her back with an Astonish attack, screaming and letting off a small pulse of Ghost-Type energy. Noct and Willow grinned as they cornered the redhead before a bag of flour exploded at their feet. Anthony exited the kitchen, several bags of flour at the ready. Noct coughed and waved away the flour that now covered his clothing, before a can of soda beaned him on the head courtesy of Jaune, before exploding and drenching him.

Yang attempted to help by knocking out Jaune, but Nora used the distraction to stab another watermelon with her pipe and bash Yang away, directly through a pillar. It came tumbling down, sending shudders through the building as Nora laughed maniacally, and the two Trainers on Team RWBY's side readied their weapons. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes as Blake attempted to bind her feet together before being swept away by Sapphire. "The soda! Volley them!" Pyrrha looked back to several machines, one of which Jaune was grabbing another can from, and grabbed several dozen at once with her polarity semblance.

Sapphire tossed Blake into Willow sending them both to the ground before Pyrrha launched the cans towards them. Noct looked at the oncoming wave, before flashing a peace sign. "I'm out, bitches." He phased into the ground, and the cans sent Willow and Blake back, crashing against the wall and they became covered in the various colors of the sodas.

"Blake! Willow! NOOOOO!" Ruby sped over and caught Blake, while Noct phased out of the ground and calmly caught Willow in a princess carry.

"Do we kiss now?" Noct cheekily asked.

"You wish."

"I'll have you know I've seduced many of the female species." Sapphire glowed as he began using Extreme Speed, couching down before launching towards them. Weiss was suddenly in his path, and his eyes widened as she splattered an entire bottle's worth of ketchup on the ground, and he had built up too much speed and momentum to stop. He crashed face-first into the side of the building, creating an imprint of his body in it and sending cracks up the wall. Noct just shook his head. "Bruh moment."

Sapphire groaned into the concrete. "I hate you…"

"Did… we win?" Jaune questioned. Professor Goodwitch suddenly slammed open the doors to the cafeteria, walking in between Sun and a blue-haired boy who had watched the entirety of the battle.

"I don't think any of us won," Willow spoke from her position in Noct's arms, watching the teacher.

"Children," The Huntress sighed out, waving her riding crop and using her Semblance to begin fixing the cafeteria, sending tables back to their places and taking splattered food from the walls. "Please don't play with your food."

The three Teams were silent until Yang managed to extract herself from the rubble of a fallen pillar before the remaining pieces still standing collapsed onto her. When she dug herself out there was a beat of silence, before they began laughing.

"That was badass!" Noct cheered and high-fived a deadpan Pangoro, grinning wildly.

Sapphire laughed, wiping some dust and debris from his clothes. "That was somewhat entertaining."

"Holy shit," Willow's eyes widened, "I have never seen you laugh unless it was at Noct completely failing at something."

"To be fair, Noct failing at something is usually entertaining." Noct glared at Anthony and the blond grinned sheepishly and hid behind Sapphire, who was rolling his eyes.

"I can laugh at things, dumbass."

"No, no, he has a point," Yang grinned and elbowed him. "I guess even _you_ can relax once in a while, I guess!" Zorua yipped an affirmative and darted between her legs before climbing onto his shoulder.

" _You are a pretty uptight trainer…"_

"I don't need my own pokémon teaming up against me." Sun and the blue-haired boy suddenly ran up, both of them also covered in food even though they had been standing on the sidelines.

"Man, that was the most intense food fight I've ever seen!"

Professor Goodwitch just sighed as the students all talked and laughed with each other, not paying attention to the teacher, and Headmaster Ozpin just chuckled as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Let it go."

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be. But right now they're still children." Yang threw her arms around Noct's and Sapphire's necks, laughing as Noct choked and Sapphire sighed, while Ruby giggled and played with Zorua. "Why not let them play the part?"

"It isn't a role they'll have forever."

* * *

Sableye's head twitched back and forth before Noct pet him to calm him down. "Easy there."

"I think, like, every Sableye has ADHD," Willow noted as she pet a sleeping Leafeon. "Real fitting that he's your pokémon."

"...The hell's that supposed to mean?!"

Sapphire twitched and closed his eyes, counting to ten, before refocusing on Anthony. "Do you think I could get away with killing him?"

"Killing him? Easy. Getting away with it? I'm pretty sure you'd be the first person everyone would look to if Noct were to ever disappear or be found dead."

"Shit." Sapphire shook his head. "Screw it, back to the matter at hand." Both boys were sitting cross-legged in one of the empty arenas while Noct and Willow joked around in the background. Sapphire grabbed Anthony's hands and closed his eyes, ignoring Noct's laughter in the background.

"Uh…"

"Okay, I'm going to focus aura into my hands, close your eyes and focus on that." Blue light coalesced into his arms, flowing down into his hands. Anthony closed his eyes as well and jumped as he felt the odd sensation of Sapphire's aura. "Noct, if you make any sort of homoerotic joke I'll throw you off the dorm building."

"As if that would stop him."

"Willow speaks the truth, death is just a stopgap. No god could stop my escape from hell."

"So… focused on your aura, or whatever. What next?"

"Keep focusing on it. Try and focus on how it feels, what it feels like, this is my soul, my inner self. It is what gives me strength and what lets me fight past the normal limits I have. It's what allows anyone, pokémon or human, to fight past their fate."

"Sounds like we're in a shitty anime…"

"Willow, slap him."

There was a 'smack!' noise. "Ah! Shit!"

"Well, I can feel… energy. I guess?"

"Can you still feel it?"

"Ha!" Smack. "Fuck!"

"Yeah, I can still feel it."

"Still?"

"Yes, still."

"Sti—"

"Yes, I can still feel it!" Anthony opened his eyes in annoyance and yelped when he saw Sapphire standing further away with his arms crossed. He looked down and saw the energy flowing around his arms, although slightly weakened. Once he focused on it though, it quickly vanished. "Whoa, I had it! I was doing it!"

"Hm… for a while I simply assumed you were inadequate and just couldn't manifest any aura on your own besides that which is necessary to speak with Pokémon, but this proves that wrong. You just have a very weak aura."

"Ye— wait, what do you mean inadequate?! And weak?!"

Sapphire nodded, ignoring the blond's outrage. "I wanted to see if you would manifest any abilities on your own, but guiding you seems to have helped. Can you refocus on that feeling and bring it back out?" Anthony grumbled, before closing his eyes.

He tried to imagine the feeling he felt earlier and struggled for several seconds to drag it out to the surface. He continued to struggle, furrowing his brows and beginning to sweat after several minutes. Sapphire waited patiently, and after ten minutes passed a small spark leaped from Anthony's hands.

It was yellow unlike Sapphire's blue, and it was incredibly faint, but it _was_ there. It quickly faded, but he still grinned happily. "I did it! Awesome!"

"Yes, well done."

"Congratulations, I'd clap, but I'm incredibly awesome with my Ghost-Type powers, and therefore cooler than you." Willow smacked him again.

"Nobody cares about your opinion."

"I'm just getting shut down over and over again today."

"Willow, have Leafeon bind his mouth with vines please."

"Now that's kink—" Noct was unable to finish due to the vines crawling over his mouth. Sableye began cackling before vines crawled over the Pokémon's mouth. Then more covered their bodies.

"Succumb to the forest's will."

"Stop trying to become Poison Ivy, Willow."

"You never let me have any fun."

"I let you shut Noct up."

Willow snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "You have a point."

Anthony ignored them and stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth in concentration, several more sparks of yellow jumping from his hands. "Damn, I've almost got it!"

"It's going to take some time, even with me guiding you most of the way. You have to be patient when training with aura. Don't rush it. Aura is powerful, but dangerous when used in the wrong way."

Anthony looked at him with a confused glance, before nodding. "Right, I can see that. Don't worry, I'll take my time."

Sapphire nodded at him, before nodding at Willow. "It's your turn. For some reason neither of you could unlock your abilities up till now, Anthony due to his weakness, and Willow for some unknown reason."

"Stop saying I have a weak aura!"

"So let's find out." Willow hopped into the arena and sat across from Sapphire, letting him take her hands. A moment later and Sapphire was repeating the process he had started with Anthony, while said doctor inspected the vine Noct cocoon.

"You good?" Noct mumbled something. "Uh…"

"Don't cut him out no matter what he says."

"He may be suffocating."

"Praise the Lord."

"I'm cutting him out."

"Screw the lord." Anthony rolled his eyes and shifted his crossbow into hatchet form, carefully slicing away at the vines. Back with the Aura Guardian and the female Trainer Sapphire made sure to send a steady flow of aura through his arms and into Willow's, trying to help her see what aura felt like. "Well?"

"I feel something… but it's kind of muted. Is it supposed to be muted like that?" Sapphire hummed, looking at their linked hands.

"Hold for a moment." He closed his hands and his hair floated up for a second as he pulsed energy into her hands. He quickly let go, and his aura vanished from Willow's arms like oil sliding away from water. Sapphire frowned at the sight, as that wasn't how aura should have worked normally.

"Am I doing something wrong?"

"No…" Sapphire shifted his hands, bringing them to her temples.

"Uh…"

"Don't get any ideas," Sapphire rolled his eyes and pulsed energy through his fingertips. "I'm just trying to see something. Have you heard of the Psychic-Type gym leader Sabrina? And how she has her own psychic abilities like a Pokémon?"

"Yes? Whoa, are psychic powers part of aura?"

He shook his head, prodding at her head. "No. Complete opposite. Aura is the power of the soul, psychic powers are the power of the mind. Aura users may be able to use Pokémon moves, but we can't use Psychic-Type moves. Those with psychic abilities have powerful… well, abilities, but they can't use other moves such as Aura Sphere or Hydro Pump."

"So you think I have psychic abilities? But I thought I was using aura to understand my Pokémon like you all are?"

Sapphire finally pulled his hands away and crossed his arms. "You aren't. You're reading their minds, while we read their souls. I'll be honest, I never cared much for psychics besides how to defeat one in a battle since an aura user can't become a psychic, and a psychic cannot become an aura user, so I don't know much. I can at least force your power out."

"How?"

"Get ready for a possible migraine."

"Wait, wha—" he suddenly poked her in the forehead with his index and middle finger, sending a ray of aura through Willow's brain.

Willow subconsciously reacted, her mind having shifted itself to become more sensitive to psychic abilities, immediately raced to defend itself from what it perceived as an attack. A small pink bubble surrounded Willow's body, and she began yelling as she began rolling away. "Sapphire?! Sapphire! Stop this thing!"

Sapphire just watched her go, raising an eyebrow. "Never seen that response to a psychic awakening."

"And she's off to the races!" Noct lifted his arms and narrated, his mouth finally free.

"Leafeon."

" _Already on it."_ The Grass-Type lazily wrapped another vine around the boy's mouth.

"Uhh…"

Sapphire hopped off the stage and pat Anthony on the shoulder. "Noct's just being lazy. He can literally phase through solid matter, if he really wanted to get himself free from those vines, he'd get himself free." Noct just shot two finger guns at him in response, all three of them watching as Willow's psychic bubble bounced her around the room.

"SAPPHIRE!"

* * *

 **Not much is clearly given in the RWBY timeline for when they're in Beacon… well, some stuff is given, like how there was a two-week break in between semesters, but then other time jumps aren't noted.**

 **Well, at least writing the deadliest food fight in history was fun. Zorua and Zoroark are awesome pokemon, I have fun writing anything with them and their illusions. Not my favorite pokemon, but pretty cool. I selected pokemon that fit characters best for this story, not my favorites, though some of them I do actually really like.**

 **Anyway,** **leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read.** **See y'all next time.**


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